Sometimes environmentally-conscious, nutritional and sustainable cuisine gets unfairly dismissed in the world of top-tier restaurants, written off as not indulgent enough, unnecessary, or just too complicated. Midtown NYC’s Rouge Tomate, however, proves just how wildly wrong that rejection is. With a fierce commitment to seasonal, local, and healthy ingredients, Michelin-rated Rouge Tomate offers incredibly flavorful and creative dishes that you can feel good about digging into, in a serene and chic setting. On our visit last week we enjoyed the three-course prix fixe lunch, the choices for which shows off the restaurant’s impressive and tempting variety of specialties. Our starter favorites included the Autumn Squash soup, whose spicy and sweet taste can be attributed to its apple, pumpkin seed, fall spice and anisette components. Additionally the Hawaiian Walu Crudo was a mild yet luscious sliced raw fish dish filled with yuzu, lemongrass and ginger flavors. For the entree, you cannot go wrong with the outstanding Steelhead Salmon a la Plancha, cooked perfectly pink with a crispy skin on top and a bed of dynamic five grain salad and broccoli rabe underneath. The best dessert hands-down was the gorgeous Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache sprinkled with sea salt, accompanied by sliced banana, crunchy graham cracker, and golden-brown marshmallows. The dishes mentioned here are from the Restaurant Week 2012 menu–available through February 10th and an excellent deal–and are also available, along with many other scrumptious choices, on the regular lunch menu. Book your reservations at this elegant and tasty can’t-miss eatery here.