Two Years Ago: We and our guests had an excellent dinner that included: Tuscan meatballs; surprisingly tender wood-grilled hangar steak, with roast yukons; perfectly grilled herb-crusted veal with acorn squash and creamy polenta; and a bourbon-infused almond panna cotta. The 'freebee" wood-fired mushrooms were also delicious. And .... the services was friendly and accommodating. Overall: underrated by Zagat reviewers.

Two years later: HER CHOICES:: The Tuscan meatballs with porcini and prosciutto ("Polpette") were too overwhemed by pepper; the fried mozzarella and anchovy sandwich ("Encarozza") was good but lacked the anchovy accent; the risotto with wild mushrooms was nicely rich and flavorfull; the mascarpone cheesecake with lemon yuzu curd and a ginger cookie was excellent. MY CHOICES: the risotto with razor clams, fresh herbs and lemon zest ("Risotto con Cannolichi") was comprised of mostly tender clams and modestly flavored risotto---pretty good; the wood-grilled, brick-splayed cornish hen with smoked vidalia onions, gigante bean ragu and rosemary carrots ("Pollo al Mattone con Cippolla Vidalia Agro Dolce") was generally beautifully executed but for a tad too much salt; the Piedmont Arneis white was nicely appropriate, though slightly underchilled. Both of loved the on-the-house sage polenta with parmesan. Service was very friendly, slower than desirable, on a Thursday night.