Restaurant e18hteen

Description:

• That's the way the management chooses to spell this chic restaurant's name. It's as consciously chic as it can be, with many mirrored surfaces, much chrome, and contemporary paintings of varying interest. Tall vases of lilies stand on glowing cubes beneath Italianate track lighting. Literary and design affectations aside, there's interesting and experimental food to sample here; black cod is painted with honey and ginger; a piece of seared Québec foie gras comes with caramelized pineapple, port sauce, and Szechwan peppercorns; oven-roasted ostrich (yes, ostrich) is served with enoki mushrooms and a cherry gastrique; the rib-eye comes with house-made barbecue sauce; and a butter-poached Nova Scotia lobster tail is paired with a beef tenderloin, tomato jam, and veal jus. Chef Matthew Carmichael is steadily improving things here, and DJs work hard each Friday and Saturday night spinning acid jazz and retro soul tunes in case you're just coming for drinks, the cool factor, and to see (and be part of) a scene.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010