World's Top Power Dining Spots

01 - Maison Blanche, Paris

Positioned on the top floor of the Art Deco-style Theatre des Champs-Elysées, on the fashionable Avenue Montaigne, this glassed-in rooftop restaurant offers stunning views of and across the Seine. International bankers, models and actors flock here for the setting, the crisp, clean design and the cutting-edge seasonal cuisine: partridge with caramelized turnips and Szechuan-style spicy peppers, doused in licorice-blackberry syrup, anyone?

02 - Antica Trattoria della Pesa, Milan, Italy

Tourists run for the Tuscan hills, but high rollers head straight for Milan, Italy’s capital of commerce, finance, fashion and media. In the heart of the city, this 100-year-old trattoria caters to A-listers in every category. Its fin-de-siècle furnishings, dark-wood paneling and authentic menu smack of old Milan. Try the polenta or riso al salto con rognone trifolato--fried rice with thinly sliced kidney, a house specialty.

03 - NoMI, Chicago

Sometimes it’s all about seducing the client. The dramatic views of Chicago’s skyline from NoMi, high up in the Chicago Park Hyatt, will do the trick, which is why movers and shakers are willing to leave “the loop” to dine here. Named for Chicago’s renowned North Michigan Avenue, which it looks out on, NoMi features French-inspired cuisine in a 120-seat Tony Chi restaurant appointed with museum quality art.

04 - Cepe, Beijing, China

Here fancy hotels are going up faster than you can say “pass the torch.” Cepe, at the Ritz-Carlton Financial Street, in the heart of the Beijing’s central business district (CBD), serves up haute Italian for those business meals when you want to focus on the conversation, not on your chopsticks. Cepe (that’s French for porcini) is close to the Intercontinental Hotel, popular with the Goldman Sachs crowd. After dinner, you can celebrate your coup at the Ritz’ Crystal Bar, a champagne and cigar lounge.

05 - Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles

Where else but in L.A. can a breezy pizza and salumi joint become the hottest place in town to take a meeting? Co-owned by Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton, the restaurant has been on fire since it opened in November when agents in Armani started lining up for fennel sausage pies and cured meats. Some Hollywood honchos make weekly appointments. Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg avoid the insanity and order takeout.

06 - The Oval Room, Washington, D.C.

A current favorite of Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice and other executive branch politicians, this elegant, nonpartisan restaurant one block from the White House was also a Bill Clinton hangout. General Manager Rob Almaraz says servers are asked to leave their politics at the door and, of course, discretion is key given the weighty table talk. Chef Tony Conte, ex- of Jean Georges in NYC, does his best to distract politicos from working lunches with inspired dishes like maple-orange glazed skate with escarole and grapefruit.

07 - The Ivy, London

After all these years, The Ivy still reigns supreme as the power dining spot in media, publishing and showbiz circles. And though everyone is treated the same, some, like Harvey Weinstein, get better tables. Reservations must be made months in advance, and the décor is wood-column clubby, but the ambiance is refreshingly laid-back. The menu is decidedly British (think blackface mutton and turnip pie) with the occasional Asian nod.

08 - The China Club, Hong Kong

Executives flock to this exclusive businessman’s haunt secreted away on the 14th floor of the Bank of China building. The restaurant, known for its distinctive dim sum, resembles a Shanghai gentleman’s club circa 1930. It is, in fact, a “members’ only” club, but any savvy hotel concierge can get you a table. Linger at the stretch art-deco bar or on Winston Churchill’s tattered old leather couch in the library.

09 - Four Seasons, New York City

Captains of just about every industry gather daily in the Grill Room at this midtown Manhattan institution, from Michael Eisner to Sony CEO Howard Stringer to Cathleen Black, head of Hearst Publications. The cuisine is contemporary Continental, but, as managing partner Alex von Bidder points out: “Regulars hardly ever order off the menu.” Indeed, loyal A-listers are lavished with personal attention.

10 - Jamavar, Bangalore, India

Bangalore, India’s third-largest city, has morphed into a hip, global technology center, attracting CEOs from Google, Yahoo!, IBM, Honeywell and, of course, Bill Gates. He and other technology titans like to talk shop and ink deals at Jamavar, an opulent restaurant in the luxurious Leela Palace, with dripping chandeliers and exquisite Jamavar textiles. Spiced lobster neerulli, a lobster curry with tomatoes and shallots, is the crown jewel of this North Indian menu.