The Gingrasses, who opened high-volume Postrio, know how to run a restaurant. Everyone, from the manager who greets to the waiters and runners, is a pro. To start, we have rosy steamed prawns piled on a platter with ribbons of cucumber salad. Seared foie gras comes with a satiny stuffed onion and a sticky, tart-sweet apricot sauce that's a perfect foil for the duck liver. And I loved the tempura lobster, claws sheathed in a lacy batter, tail presented in the shell, with a tomato-mint vinaigrette.
Tomato soup tastes more like tomato ragu, however, and grilled anchovies are mushy.
Roasted chicken is moist and redolent of smoke and herbs. It comes with sauteed sweet white corn and fresh fava beans and a miniature charlotte mold filled with tender corn spoon bread. Sauteed local petrale sole arrives with an extravagant ruffle of deep-fried fin standing up on the plate. The sole's delicate flavor and texture play well against bright potato and lobster hash. I like the maple-glazed quail, too, very pink and not at all crispy, sitting on a potato gratin.