Table 31

There are satisfying flavors beyond the steaks. The huge short rib, braised for eight or more hours, has an amazing depth of flavor. And I loved the pig trotters, a cast-iron crock of braised shredded pork, mushrooms and melty cubes of jellied trotter meat that was like eating broiled rillettes.

One disappointment was the halibut crusted in a crispy latke of lemongrass potatoes - a disappointing $32 hunk of overcooked fish. But a black cod special over squash blossoms and a saffron Provencale sauce was a delight. And the housemade cavatelli with crispy guanciale and tomato butter, the toothsome orecchiette with tender braised rabbit, and the ample crab fettuccine would have done any Italian kitchen proud.

Table 31's sides - indulgently creamed corn, sauteed mushrooms, richly cheesed macaroni, and a potato Tatin that sandwiched crispy rosettes of potato around sweet onions - were a solid notch above the usual steak-house frills.

Pastry chef Rocco Lugrine's creative riffs on classic American desserts help Table 31 make an emphatic finish. Vividly flavored sorbets and ice creams (watermelon-mint; espresso-peanut; rosemary-honey) come in an irresistible trio of color-matched mini-cones. PBJ spins the lunchbox staple into a lusciously layered bar of chocolate-and-raspberry ganache and bready peanut dacquoise topped with a toasty tuile cradling peanut butter mousse.

It's the tall wedge of ultimate chocolate cake, though, that best speaks to Table 31's spirit of chop house redux. It's so dark and moist with layered shades of chocolate - mousse, devil's food, crunchy meringue, ganache and more ganache - this is the cocoa equivalent of that tomahawk steak: a slice of pure decadence with the magnetic pull to alter gravity. Just watch out for flying forks.