THIS DIMINUTIVE CULINARY OASIS in the financial district started out admirably well and keeps getting better. The experience is polished, from the playlist (good ’90s party) to the minimalist décor (soft lighting, off-white walls, warm wood) and the unfussy service, spearheaded by tirelessly affable owner Chris White. Above all else, though, the finesse is evident in the cooking. Chef Julie Hyde has substantial and elevated European training (Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Maison Lameloise, etc.). And it shows — in her confident imagination (boudin with romesco, crisp-skinned fish with chicken jus, etc.) and her consistently exquisite sauces. You can enjoy this experience à la carte, seated side by side, overlooking her open kitchen from a banquette in the front lounge. Or opt for full-on, with a tasting menu of six-plus courses in the 24-seat dining room at the rear. Either way, expect seafood dishes to be a highlight, whether raw (sliced scallop with trout roe and almond cream) or cooked (a sublime crisp-skinned, dry-aged whitefish from Affinity Fish) or cast as a winter salad (crab, radish, charred grapefruit, shallot vinaigrette). Evolving iterations of sweetbread are always delicious. Whatever sensibly inventive dish lands in front of you, White will be poised to deploy an equally imaginative wine pairing as its perfect complement — like the Mosel Riesling from the incomparable Hofgut Falkenstein he invariably pulls out to bring out the best in charred vegetables. Trust him, whether dining à la carte or blind.

The definition of hospitality. Bonnie Stern