Country Restaurant

Kathleen Squires

Citysearch

The Scene
The mahogany-paneled room, furnished with marble-topped tables and gleaming leather upholstery, feels like a study in an English manor house, though the loud, suited-up crowds are most certainly city slickers or Carlton Hotel guests. A stainless steel bar at the center adds modernity, while its overwhelmed keepers unfortunately set the service tone.

The Food
Both Doug Psaltis' new American menu and the waitstaff's service yo-yo between formality and casualness. A fancy dollop of fennel cream and flan-like salpicon enrich a buttery lobster soup, for example, while puny stone crab claws could have used some frills to distract from their mealiness. The luxurious presence of black truffles in the opulently comforting artisanal pasta--and its accompanying lid-lifting fanfare--contradicts its homey Pyrex serving dish. In fact, the abundance of tableside flourishes--from the aged balsamic sprinkled upon a side of crispy roasted artichokes to chocolate sauce artfully drizzled on profiteroles--may explain the often beleaguered service.