The St. Regis Hotel's swanky American bistro

All wealth's not created equal: old money prefers restrained elegance, while new money can be garish and dumb, sipping Cristal through straws made of platinum, or even uranium. Going route no. 1, Paces 88 in the St. Regis

Arriving Tuesday inside the Atlanta outpost of New York's legendarily classy hotel, Paces serves upscale, locally influenced American bistro cuisine amidst arched ceilings, cream-colored chandeliers, rug-covered hardwood floors, French doors, and murals of Piedmont Park (look! there's the Noguchi Playscape for Children!). Starting with breakfast, highlights include Skillet-crisp Georgian Trout (w/ shirred eggs, pork belly cracklings, roasted pear compote) and Rosti Potato Cake (w/ poached organic egg, maple-cured/smoked pork loin, tarragon olive oil, Osetra caviar), plus fresh-squeezed juices, French-pressed coffee, mimosas, a White Peach Bellini, and the bloody "West Paces Mary" -- honoring P88's location, not that lady who gives buck-head on that part of Paces you're afraid to pace. Lunch runs from the SRA Beef Burger (w/ cage-aged Cheddar, Thousand Island, pickled green tomatoes, truffle-parm fries) to Shrimp & Grits (w/ duck confit, wild mushroom stew, & cabernet reduction); for dinner, there's meaty action like the yellow lentil/wild mushrooms/rhubarb chutney Kurabuto Pork Tenderloin, and seafood like the sweet corn-bacon ragout, spinach, and Port wine reduction'd Tasmanian Ocean Trout (expect your stomach to become a violent tornado of satisfaction)

Lunch & dinner booze includes a 520-strong wine list, specialty drinks like the "Paces Iced Tea" (Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Vodka, pom juice, lime), and Atlanta microbrews like Red Brick Ale. Post-meal fatness comes via Coca-Cola cake, baked chocolate mousse, candied almond ice cream, coffee sabayon, and warm sea salt caramel Mudd Pie -- even more likely than your radioactive drinking implement to blow you the hell up.