Department

This place used to be Rodeo, which we’d never been to. Secret entrance (find it yourself — you’ll be glad you did) leading upstairs to a Hipster nightclub setup with a dramatic, domed, shabby-​chic dining room with white tablecloths & sparkling wine glasses. Friendly, accommodating staff, small list of interesting German & Austrian wines. Menu set up in unconventional manner that seemed not to have any starters. We ordered the «Chef’s Surprise,» which consisted of an amuse bouche of blutwurst with a celery reduction and berry compote; starters of black lentils on a sheet of paper-​thin beef topped with a second sheet of roasted Parmesan and salmon tartare with some sort of foam; mains of baked halibut and beef filet, both with superb vegetables and little dollops of pureed this and reduction of that, so each mouthful became its own experience. Pop Rocks in raspberry purée for dessert brought this most excellent meal to a fun and vibrant finish. On this particular night, there was an Alice in Wonderland theme on the go, which grew in intensity as the night moved toward the clearing of the restaurant to make way for dancing. The only hitch to the evening was the very long wait for dessert, as a reult of the bubbly mangress’ offer to set up extra tables for parties who hadn’t booked tables (of which we were the first), ultimately bogging down the food service But who could blame her for wanting as many people as possible to share the confident charms of her kitchen? Not us.