First Friday Luncheons are open to Professional and Fellow members only; the menus appear in Previews.

Husband-and-wife team open small neighborhood place. Locals stop by after work, park their dogs outside, and discuss the day's events with all and sundry who happen through the front door. This may sound familiar, but when you're across the river from one of the biggest restaurant towns in the world, locals include restaurant critics from national and international publications. Saul Bolton's eponymous Saul is tempting a pack of Manhattanites back over the bridges for food, as Time Out New York put it, "worth reverse-commuting for."

Although Saul is located in a "sweet little brick storefront," New York Times critic Eric Asimov has called Bolton's cooking "serious and ambitious...elegant food." Praising the menu of "strong clear flavors," crafted of "superb ingredients," Asimov singled out the "exceptional" sea scallops with parsley vinaigrette and sautéed foie gras, "the kind of dish with a sigh in every bite." Caroline Gonzalez of the Daily News advised readers to "place [themselves] in the expert hands of chef Saul Bolton," proclaiming the roast chicken with mashed potatoes "a sublime textural treat."

A veteran of venerated restaurants such as Le Bernardin and Bouley, Bolton is no stranger to glowing reviews. After traveling through Europe and the Far East, he settled in Boston at Hamersley's Bistro under Gordon Hamersley. Leaving Beantown for Gotham, Bolton moved to the kitchens of Eric Ripert and David Bouley, next to the stoves of Verbena, Le Zoo, and Grove. Ready to spread his wings with the help of his wife, Lisa, Bolton settled on Boerum Hill's Smith Street in Brooklyn. But for one afternoon this month, he'll be cooking back in Manhattan.