Restaurants

Former Chopped contestant Jeremy Spector lures locals to his spot with a scratch-made menu. The star is Sebastian’s Steakhouse Burger: a patty-cheddar-onion combo that Guy calls “dynamite.” The duck confit poutine made with hand-cut fries, cheese curds and, of course, duck confit, is also a hit.

Guy calls Black Tree “hard core” because this spot takes its farm-to-table mantra very seriously. He feasts on the Winter Pig, a cheesy pork-belly sandwich that he likens to “an enormous roast-pork dinner … in a sandwich.” Menu items change with the seasons, but all have a reputation for tastiness.

At unassuming East Village gastropub The Redhead, seasonal, Southern-inflected food and carefully-made cocktails reign supreme. On Triple D, Guy was blown away by chef Meg Grace's Homemade Pretzels With Beer Cheese. For a comforting main course, try the Buttermilk Fried Chicken or Shrimp and Grits.

In Fort Greene Brooklyn, The Smoke Joint is smoking up some seriously mouth-watering, succulent, fall off the bone 'cue. The short ribs are Brontosaurus-sized, and the Buffalo wings are funkified by smoking them first. It's a veritable melting pot of a barbecue joint, much like the city it's in.

Since 1922, this multigenerational old-school Italian deli in Brooklyn has been a local staple. Guy adored the tender steak pizzaiola with fresh mozzarella in the Sinatra Special. He called the thinly sliced roast beef, fried eggplant and mozzarella sandwich ridiculous and the real deal.

The three innovative female chefs that run this Brooklyn establishment are pumping out classic American cuisine with a Southern spin. Guy loved the savory buckwheat waffles and fried chicken, which were light and crisp. He also devoured the addictive Pecan Crunch Donut coated with homemade toffee.

A few years ago, auto shop owner Fred Donnelly took up barbecue as a hobby. Then he started selling it from a trailer outside his Queens shop. Soon he was serving 150 lunches a day at MOgridder's BBQ. Dig into Fred's ribs and the brisket, which Guy said would ''challenge any good Texas brisket.''

The tomatoes are San Marzano, the flour is superfine Italian, the cheese is buffalo mozzarella and the crust is, dare we say it, flawless: puffy, chewy and just a little charred.