Mare, 8th Avenue.

Close to similarly superb 8th Avenue restaurants as the Rocking Horse Cafe and Cuba Cafe, Mare (198 8th Ave., 212-675-7522) is all about seafood - fried oysters with chipotle aioli, steamed Prince Edward Island mussels in a white wine sauce, shrimp fra diavalo, diver sea scallops Provencale, yellowfin tuna panseared with sesame-seed crust. The lively, informal space is a favorite dine-out for Chelsea's many gay residents, and for seafood lovers of every ilk.