In 2001 he opened the first of Craft eateries. At the time it received an inordinate amount of attention from diners and press alike. Not simply because those who'd been savoring Tom's delicious dishes until then were eager to sample the fruits of his new vision, but because the new vision was unlike any the city had seen. Obviously the notion of 'Craft' immediately references the fine tuned talents of a culinary artist who can create dishes to appease the educated palates of the world's fine dining capital, but people soon discovered that it meant so much more.

The unique vision of Craft was characterized by two specific and rare elements. The first was to take the finest ingredients, sourced from the most distinguished regions and by purveyors who shared Tom's inability to compromise, then to prepare those magnificent individual ingredients in the simplest way, allowing the intrinsic beauty of the natural flavor to come out. In itself a tricky and prized skill, one which reviewers have cited time and again as being no more evident than in the delightful morsels which come from the kitchen of Tom's eateries, Craft and Craftbar. While such clear, transparent flavors are surely sufficient to reach the heights which Craft has done, this was not the end of the culinary adventure of Craft.

Like a film that demands the engagement of an educated viewer, a Fellini as opposed to a Hollywood blockbuster, the vision of Craft demanded the active participation of its diners. Eschewing the traditional notion that diners like to give themselves over to the personal tastes of the chef, Craft's menu offered free reign to the world's most knowledgeable concentration of educated eaters, those who fill the tables of New York Restaurants.

They could choose from a range of sides and accompaniments to create the dish they most wanted to eat. This approach, along with the unmatched quality of each ingredient and the skill with which it was prepared, earned Craft sterling reviews from the city's most revered critics, and resulted in numerous awards, including the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant Nationwide in 2002, as well as an Outstanding Pastry Chef Award for resident pastry chef, Karen DeMasco in 2005.

Although the menu has been revised a little since opening, affording a less challenging choice for the many diners who desire to entrust their meal to the best chefs of the New York Restaurant scene, the dessert menu still offers the build-your-own option. This has allowed the culinary genius of Craft to reach a wider audience. Craftbar was the natural progression, creating an informal ambiance where diners could sate their need to eat those magical dishes created with the same attention to beautiful ingredients.

Both menus take their cue from the globe's most celebrated food countries and styles of cooking, offering a touch of French creation and a sampling of Italian heartiness from the old country, adding in a wine list to spark the imagination and work with each separate mouthful.

A table which opts for the glorious tasting menu can enjoy the varied delights with paired wines, if the make the wise choice to do so. There is no mistaking then that when it comes to perfectly considered harmonies and contrasts, Craft's team are in a league of their own. Of course, you may just want to eat that specific gem, perhaps the Porterhouse steak, which already has its own following. A fair indication that Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak is certain achieve the vertiginous heights of his other astounding New York Restaurants.