Terra Plata's rooftop garden, an hour before sunset

Terra Plata’s roof is less a deck than a working garden that happens to have tables in it. The first time I ate up here, a server clipped herbs from the planter behind my chair and carried them downstairs. “Earth to plate” is the kind of tagline I usually roll my eyes at. This is the rare one that holds up — and it’s why I keep coming back on nights I want dinner to feel like an occasion without dressing like one.

The food

Order the paella. It takes a while, and that’s the right amount of time to work through most of a bottle of rosé while the light gets good over the Melrose Market rooflines. I’ve tried ordering around it. I always regret it.

The catch

The roof is small and they don’t take rooftop reservations, so timing matters more here than anywhere else on this list. I’ve struck out twice on warm Saturdays, and both times it was my own fault.

Best time to go: arrive an hour before sunset, put your name in, and have a drink downstairs while you wait. The wait is part of it now.

Photos courtesy of Terra Plata.