Astral Plane Millenium

I had a little better luck with some of the house-made pastas, which were actually quite delicate before they were drowned in a stiflingly rich porcini cream sauce, or formed into ravioli stuffed with mushy mushroom duxelles, then slathered in gorgonzola cream. The signature Astral Plane Millenium pasta was an appealing mound of fettuccine tossed with a vegetable confetti, but the watery sauce was virtually unseasoned.

Zavala seemed on firmer ground with the chicken Azteca, a generous serving of tender breast meat in a traditional chipotle sauce topped with melted Oaxaca cheese.

It's a nice contrast to the jarring sweetness of the drunken chicken, whose sherry, clove and cinnamon brown sugar sauce is like a poultry confection. Topped with deep-fried batons of honey-baked smoked ham, it is just wacky enough to remind me of the seat-of-the-pants cookery that once marked the old Astral Plane's often flighty culinary ambitions.

Unfortunately, the Millenium version doesn't have the parachutes or quirky charm to give its dicey dishes a softer landing.