A sharp citrus reduction plays off well against the richness of the meats. The execution at Town rarely falters, and much of the credit must go to Mr. Zakarian's longtime collaborator and executive chef, Fernando Zapata. Thick slabs of spice-crusted duck, deeply flavored, need no knife, and Mr. Zakarian proceeds to do wonderful things to them. He adds a hearty buckwheat pilaf and caramelized endive stuffed with thin slices of apple. Slow cooking causes the endive and apples to exchange flavors and textures until they are impossible to tell apart.
Some dishes are simplicity itself.
Fresh pea soup with brittle shards of fried prosciutto and a few intact peas bobbing here and there gives an upgrade to traditional split pea and ham soup. A risotto of escargots doused with black truffle broth seems unfair. It's like having the chef write you a large check. The risotto is a little runnier than I like it, but that's a personal matter. These particular escargots deserve nothing less than a black- truffle bath.