A leisurely meal at the new Park View at the Boathouse," wrote Liesa Goins in the Resident, "is one of those New York experiences that all city dwellers should get to appreciate." The Boathouse has always been a beautiful place to spend an afternoon, but until now it was never at the top of anybody's list. (One Zagat reviewer even wondered if the fish came out of the lake in Central Park.) All that has changed now that culinary hotshot and James Beard Foundation/Perrier-Jouët Rising Star Chef nominee John Villa is running the stoves at this renovated and renamed Gotham classic. As Ruth Reichl wrote in The New York Times, "It is easy to fall under the spell of the new restaurant at the Boathouse."

The kudos come as no surprise to fans of Villa's sophisticated cooking. Villa began his career in his brother's restaurant at the age of 15. He graduated second in his class from the CIA, embarked on a tour of Europe, then signed on for a stint in Ed Brown's kitchens at the Intercontinental Hotel in Manhattan. The ambitious young chef followed Brown to Tropica, and then, in 1994, to the JUdson Grill, where he was hired as sous-chef. When Brown departed, 23-year-old Villa got a shot at the big time. He ran the kitchen with admirable virtuosity and earned glowing reviews. In 1997 this "wunderkind" (as Robin Raisfeld of New York put it) left JUdson Grill, and Frank and Jean Cretella, owners of the Boathouse complex, snatched him up. At Park View, Villa has infused new life into a city landmark with "an interesting menu that is an ode to the New York melting pot," Reichl wrote. She loved the "completely delicious" sashimi and the "excellent" rack of lamb, and she found Villa's "version of surf and turf, lobster tail with an Asian-accented breast of squab," "a pleasure." Gael Greene was partial to the "delicious" crab dumplings and the skate with white asparagus in tarragon sauce. As Delia Orlando of Travel Holiday noted, these days, Park View is more than just a pretty face: it's "one of the city's best outdoor restaurants."