The Good Neighbor

[April 13th, 2005] What makes the perfect neighborhood restaurant?

It helps to have welcoming faces at the door, calming ambience and a dining room that makes regulars feel as comfortable as they do in their own home. But most of all, it's about a kitchen with no room for towering chef-ly egos and cooking (not cuisine) performed with pride, pleasure and a dash of love for the doing. In short: Simplicity mixed with savvy, delight blended with generosity.

Buckman Grill, which opened this past January in the tidy spot formerly inhabited by Williams on 12th and the Buckman Bistro, is one of those places that can happily draw you time and time again, even if you repeat a few plates from the concise menu.

In a handsome restaurant remodel, owners Brett Meisner and Seamus Egan have put down a cherry floor and graced the walls with dark, clubby wainscoting, hanging conical lamps like so many stars. Scattered votive candles offer a look that's both festive and sophisticated. Plus, they've cut an arch between the dining room and the friendly-yet-moody bar, and the view may entice you to extend your visit for an unhurried, convivial drink. At the west end of the dining room, the kitchen is all openness and radiance, like a stage set gleaming into the darkened room.

The food is open and straightforward as well. No quail stuffed with foie gras seared in cognac-apricot glaze...sprinkled with fried leeks...bathed in a peach-infused Meyer-lemon coulis upon a bed of tarragon honey-scented truffled pearl rice accented with pomegranate foam. Chef Paul Murphy, a veteran of both the Southpark and Paley's Place kitchens, knows what satisfies. One example is his chocolate-hued BBQ short ribs ($15). Tender and loaded with pungent flavor, the succulent beef is slow-braised and served off the bone in a tawny sauce that echoes the masculine tones of the room. I thought I'd need a steak knife to wrangle my ribs, but quickly discovered my index finger would almost do as well. Corona beans and little disks of grilled fennel set off the meat.

An order of roast chicken ($14) is equally well cooked. My half small bird was surrounded by diced root vegetables that looked like little jewels scattered around the plate: carrots, Brussels sprouts and turnips, all enhanced with smoky bacon and tiny flat, crisp dumplings that fill your mouth with flavor.

Fish dishes also shine. In a recent special, a superb slab of glistening grilled sturgeon ($17), that fatty, mild, veal-like fish, showed up with fingerling potatoes that mimicked its torpedo-like shape. Bacon shows up a lot on Buckman's menu, even as stuffing in a nicely charred trout ($16), imparting a mix of salt, smoke and a touch of tangy sweetness to the belly of the fish.

Murphy has a penchant for Southern foods, and though there's no sub-Mason-Dixon orthodoxy about his offerings, we detect just a hint of favoritism. Thus he serves up a plate-not a bowl-of spirited jambalaya ($9) with all the right stuff (crawfish, andouille and smoked chicken) as an appetizer. He dishes out a superb quartet of prawns ($8) glazed with a spicy, plummy sauce and perked with hot sausage, and there's a heaping pile of clams ($9) in a buttery lemon broth blazing with chili peppers and served with grilled bread for sponging the juice. True to native traditions, there's also a dried-cherry bread pudding ($7), though its density makes it the least attractive dessert on the list.

Instead, indulge in the gorgeous panna cotta ($7), snowy white, silky, weightless custard here shaped like an exquisite tiny breast with an aureole of deep scarlet blood orange. This spring the panna cotta will feature a blackberry gelée. With its scattering of lime zest, it's the perfect refreshing finish to a meal. For heartier appetites there's an unusual flourless cake spiked with Chimayo chile ($7). It may seem odd to enjoy a dessert that is fiery on the tongue, but that's just what happens. The subtle blast of back heat carves its way through the chocolate, as if the cake were an extra-sweet pastry made of mole.

A few dishes don't come off as well. A chicken confit salad with frisée ($8) is bland and tasteless, despite the addition of fried figs and almonds. And the pork chop ($15) was a tad overcooked and dry. But most things on the short menu hit the mark. This is a bistro with plenty of heart, a kitchen that does the basics beautifully and seasons them with just the right amount of innovation and flair. The Buckman Grill understands what it means to be a good neighbor-above all, it makes you feel welcome at its table and excited to return.