No. 63: Butterfield 9

Places geared to feeding the pretheater crowd generally don’t stray much from safe and familiar Modern American dishes. They’re not places you’d expect to find, say, a Study of Goat.

But here it is, done four ways, from a supremely tender loin chop to a luscious confit. It’s not the only surprise on chef Michael Harr’s menu, which is as quietly stylish as the airy mezzanines and swirling staircase. A hint of lavender lifts a green salad beyond the everyday, huckleberry and melted fennel set off a beautifully butter-poached lobster, and a mound of crabmeat is swirled with a warm Gouda fondue. Further down the menu you’ll find ostrich—the moist, flavorful filet is roasted and sprinkled with pink peppercorn dust. It calls to mind a more refined steak au poivre.

If Harr errs, it’s on the side of too-muchness—does the foie gras with French toast really need candied blueberries, grapes, and veal jus?—and some juxtapositions, such as katafi-crusted shrimp paired with chanterelle mushrooms and huckleberry, are jarring. Still, he gets more right than wrong. And desserts such as an Italianate baked Alaska with layers of amaretto cake, pistachio ice cream, and burnished meringue may make you forget you have a show to catch.