From January 2006 100 Very Best Restaurants

THE SCENE. Legal eagles, lobbyists, and politicos do lunch and dinner during the week; on weekends, suburbanites and out-of-towners check out the handiwork of Yannick Cam, one of the city's most celebrated longtime chefs. Oddly, the place is rarely full. The rear dining room wows, courtesy of a crazy Venetian-glass Medusa-head of a chandelier and exotic backlit blooms, but the main room comes into its own at night when fiber-optic "stars" twinkle on the ceiling. Snug and chic, the new lounge may well be the best spot in the house.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE. Cam is a prodigious talent when he's on, and the $45 three-course pretheater menu is a deal--as is the bar menu, from which you can order steak frites at dinner.

WHAT YOU WON'T. The wine list. It's as heavy as a telephone book but has precious little for those drinking by the glass or half bottle or watching their wallets. And while service has warmed up some, at times you can feel the chill.