Rouget

That tuna gets a more conservative pairing - over a simple herbed risotto - for the weekend meals, when the menu goes a la carte, and Held takes fewer risks (the light-bite lunch menu is even less inspired). Even so, our Friday supper brought a squab breast with currant sauce, a well-crisped fillet of king salmon with zippy mustard emulsion, and a classic filet mignon topped with Roquefort-melted leeks that did not disappoint.

Only a few dishes, in fact, were less than stellar - a huge crab cake with too much seafood mousse filler; a seared calves' liver that was nicely rare but too thick to enjoy; and a grouper that was slightly overcooked one time and paired with mashed potatoes the next, which would have been fine on its own, but was just too heavy in the middle of an eight-course tasting.

In fact, that tasting brought so much food, I volunteered to forfeit the pineapple sorbet course - though only because I'd already savored that frozen confection at lunch. And it was wonderful, as was the vivid blueberry sorbet and the roasted-banana ice cream that came beside the molten dark chocolate cake. The limoncello cheesecake with biscotti crust, though, may have been even better. And the custard-soaked white chocolate bread pudding better yet.

Meals like these can make even that "rouget" paint job almost palette-able.