Parc

Smyth's wasn't the only snub. My wife was told there would be a 25-minute wait for a table at lunch - until I sidled up behind her. After 25 seconds and a flicker of recognition, the hostess promptly led us to one of the many open tables. But so much for special treatment: The kitchen still served us mussels that weren't quite hot and were crunchy with grit.

A splendidly juicy cheeseburger, though, plus some addictive fries and a decadently silky chocolate pot de creme, were convincing reminders of what Parc can be when it lives up to its potential. The French-born Filoni, who made his name locally at Savona, is a talented chef. And when his 75-person kitchen is locked on (and many of these flaws are so easily corrected), Parc turns out a stellar repertoire of bistro classics, from Cognac-scented pate de campagne to a flaky pissaladiere pastry topped with caramelized onions, goat cheese and olives, to a fork-tender roasted duck a l'orange infused with honeyed citrus.

There were some stellar fish, like the dewy fresh branzino topped with shaved fennel, a textbook trout amandine, and a crisply seared skate that, on my final dinner, was pretty much perfect. But red meat, it seems, is the savory kitchen's best bet, whether you indulge in the velvety beef tartare glistening with raw quail-egg yolk, or a prime-grade hanger steak-frites that was nearly as satisfying as the more expensive strip.

Parc's most reliably delightful flavors, though, have been coming from Urso's pastry kitchen, beginning with the stunning breads, and ending with polished updates to some familiar bistro confections: vanilla-speckled creme brulee, deeply caramelized rounds of apple tarte Tatin, and a gorgeous lemon tartlet scattered with cigarette-shaped meringues artfully torched to a tawny brown. The chalky warm chocolate mousse was my only disappointment.

My favorite, though, were the throwback profiteroles. Those delicately crisp choux-pastry orbs come sandwiched around homemade vanilla ice cream and get drizzled tableside with shiny black streams of hot, bittersweet chocolate. Eating at Parc should always be this much fun.