This destination restaurant disguised as a modest bistro is something of a time warp — and in so many delightful ways. The inspiration is a bygone era, before haste intruded on the civility of the dining experience, and when the quality of a dish was measured by its taste and respect for the best culinary traditions. So put away your mobile phone (as the menu requests), relax (the table is yours for the night) and feast, delightedly, on the experience. The warm and ultra-competent service staff, led by Philip Shaw, make this easy. And the kitchen, helmed by Michael Caballo and his wife, Tobey Nemeth, guarantees it. Their guiding culinary lights are the great, traditional Michelin-starred restaurants of Spain and France, whose menus adorn the walls — and that collective experience has been very successfully distilled here. Even the simplest things are a cut above (say, the provenance and slicing of the pata negra). Impeccable seafood accents some dishes (say, smoky eel in a vichyssoise of white asparagus, or the caviar topping a crisp and creamy nugget of sweetbread) and stars in others, like a chilled Dungeness crab with fennel on a bed of crab fat panna cotta, or Mahone Bay scallops in a Breton-style, mild and fragrant Kari Gosse. Poultry (chicken with vin jaune and truffle, wood-grilled squab with paprika) is stellar. Fortunately, the tasting-menu-only approach relieves you of the stress of most choices. Except for extras (take them!) and dessert, which are all exceptional.

Always FLAWLESS, never precious. The Sunday lunch is the country’s GREATEST meal. Krista Look