Art Smith's Favorite Restaurants

"You'll have the best mashed potatoes you'll ever have in your life," said Art Smith, who sits at the counter at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and watches the chefs at work during his trips to the City of Light.

When it comes time to indulge, Smith can't resist a fresh crepe slathered with Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread, made from Parisian crepe vendors found near many of Paris' parks.

When New York's Madison Square Park hosts its bi-annual Madison Square Eats in the fall and spring, Smith heads to Brooklyn pizzeria Roberta's for "the best wood-fired pizza you ever put in your mouth."

When Smith took his mother here, she remarked at the nasty talk coming from the employees. Wiener Circle is known just as much for its Chicago-style hot dogs as it is for its employees trading trash talk and insults with customers until the wee hours of the morning.

Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc was originally meant to be a temporary restaurant serving a daily four-course meal paired with a simple wine list, but it was so popular that it remains permanently open with fans like Smith traveling out of their way to dine there.

Rivaling France's great three-star restaurants, The French Laundry and Thomas Keller are some of Smith's perennial favorites.

Smith is a big fan of Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali's Pizzeria Mozza, where he once saw Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine eating an Italian-style pizza.