PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

Chef Jeff Armstrong is gone, but not the wonderful cooking. The new chef, Ryan Pera, who has worked in New York under Jonathan Waxman and at Le Cirque, has kept the direction and the concept of the original menu intact, and has even provided a bit more brio to the contrasting tastes that made the original menu such a hit. Among the starters, the crab salad with avocado and bits of grapefruit is a case in point. It's a holdover that has been kept simple, but with the addition of a little ponzu sauce to balance the sweetness of the grapefruit. The main courses present some difficult decisions. Deciding which to order is a matter of what you're most in the mood for -- comfort food, such as the pan-roasted chicken or the steak, or something new such as the ahi tuna with oxtail. Located in the Alden-Houston Hotel, the restaurant's dining room is small, the furniture is comfortable, and the service is attentive.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Texas, 4th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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