SHO Shaun Hergatt

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SHO me the money! Consider it the unofficial tag line for this luxurious and recession-averse French-Asian eatery from Shaun Hergatt…in the Financial District. No bailouts necessary here: A lavish, glass-walled wine gallery leads diners into a Zen-like dining room filled with artwork flown in from Tibet and statues from mainland China. It's a dramatic backdrop for Hergatt's Indochine-y bites, like steamed black bass in a ginger broth, peekytoe crab with galangal geleé, and Tasmanian ocean trout (imported twice weekly from Australia) in kalamansi dressing. "There's really no other restaurant at this level down here," Hergatt says about his decision to colonize a culinary dead zone with a luxury eatery during a shaky economy; he'll be prepped "as soon as the economy changes." He's also being superstitious: To bring good fortune, he's added a Tibetan bell near the entrance, thrown salt through the front door and added sculptures of foo dogs to ward off bad spirits. Begone, toxic mortgages, begone!

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Financial District restaurants, New York restaurants, Asian restaurants, French restaurants