The high ceiling, light walls above wood paneling, and hanging green-shaded lamps create a serenely elegant ambiance. Chef David Burke presents a meal with so many whimsical and delicious treats that it stimulates both the palate and the psyche. The bread arrives like an Easter basket laden with sweet surprises. A nutcracker hints at walnuts hidden under brioche and cornbread. Wafer-thin potato chips encasing a graceful cilantro leaf appear on the ends of sticks.
Baby carrots add color.
For starters, there s escargot atop a beautiful asparagus flan within an eggshell, served in a Humpty Dumpty eggcup. When the entr e, an aged rib-eye steak, appears, the waiter removes the core from a baked potato standing upright and pours cabernet sauce down the center. For blueberry lovers, berries in lemon curd are layered with lemon flan inside a conical strudel. There s a newly landscaped, canopied garden for al fresco dining, and a wood-burning fireplace for the winter months. Celebrated chef Wayne Nish, known from the Quilted Giraffe, formerly brought three stars to La Colombe d Or.