This is my favorite Boston-area restaurant. Every element is carefully thought out, from the architecture to the service to chef Jody Adams's extraordinary food. It's a dramatic but comfortable room, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Harvard Square, cushy banquettes, and standing lamps that cast a golden glow. It attracts a chic crowd, but it's not such a scene that out-of-towners will feel left behind.

The menu changes regularly. You might start with grilled Wellfleet clams with garlic bread, or Provencal fisherman's soup with rouille, Gruyère, and basil oil -- the very essence of seafood. Main courses are so good that you might as well close your eyes and point. Tuscan-style steak with portobella-and-arugula salad is wonderful, and any seafood is a guaranteed winner -- say, seared skate with sugar-pumpkin purée. A plate of creamy potato slices and mushrooms is so rich and juicy that it's almost like eating meat. For dessert, seasonal sorbets are a great choice, alone or in a combination such as lemon pound cake with Meyer lemon sorbet.