Fish fans should certainly head quickly over to Aqua, a branch of a highly respected San Francisco restaurant. And even fish-phobes might reconsider their position when they try Aqua's slightly Asian-influenced pleasures. Stylistically, the restaurant's Japanese tearoom/Frank Lloyd Wright-craftsman decor is more Melrose Avenue power restaurant than Vegas fish house, and the clientele seem to be local businessmen in search of a health-conscious, client-impressing dinner. Service is quite sensitive and solicitous. Our waiter recalled that the folks at the table next to us had been in some months prior; he also remembered which dessert they liked best, making sure they got a portion of it along with their actual dessert order.

You can start your meal with a nonseafood choice such as Hudson Valley foie gras, which comes with a warm apple Charlotte, a cinnamon-baked apple compote that tastes a bit like something you might eat at breakfast -- though foie gras is hardly a breakfast meat. The mixed-seasonal-greens salad looks like a flower, and is a light, amiable mix of flavors. For a main course, go straight to the vaguely Japanese miso-glazed Chilean sea bass in a rich, but not heavy, shellfish consommé. More timid fish eaters might try the robust Hawaiian swordfish au poivre, though its side of pancetta-wrapped shrimp dumplings (think fancy bacon-wrapped shrimp) is not as successful. Also winning raves is the potato-crusted John Dory. The lobster potpie is cooked in a pot, then brought to the table and disassembled with great ceremony, as 1 1/2 pounds of lobster is laid out, a creamy sauce with veggies is poured over it, and it's all topped with the crust. Do try some of their dainty and clever desserts, particularly their signature root-beer float -- no, really. It's got root-beer sorbet, sarsaparilla ice cream, a chocolate straw, and warm cookies right out of the oven.