Shop and Nosh at Bistro N

Nordstrom usually gets things right, and that includes Bistro N at the new NorthPark Center store. Fashionably attired in leather and with gourmet food to boot, N seems a knockoff of Neiman Marcus’ Zodiac Room (or, more precisely, Mariposa), but its attitude is not as fussy or judgmental. At lunch, ladies and shoppers rule, restlessly rearranging the romaine in their perfect chicken Caesars or spooning up creamy crab bisque. At dinner, the menu turns brawny: grilled shrimp over risotto or pepper-crusted steak (above). The bar attracts its own little homegrown scene. Desserts will knock you out, be it the warm, dense bread pudding or chocolate cake with milk-chocolate icing on a thick, glossy pool of house-made caramel—about as right as it gets.