What little experimentation takes place, that is, will be relegated to the specials list until a dish becomes a proven crowd pleaser. Lack of choice isn't the problem. I'm not sure what's retro, except possibly the Sputnik shape of the pepper, served on its side and looking as if it might levitate. It helps that the restaurant is paying for Laura Chenel goat cheese from Sonoma in northern California-the maker that put goat cheese on American menus as part of the Chez Panisse revolution. Maybe the seventies is long enough ago to qualify the dish as retro.
Salads are fine and predictable, with heavy emphasis on balsamic vinegar and the sweet in general.
Food doesn't get browner, and it seldom gets better than this honest stew with red wine, plenty of carrots, and creamy, buttery mashed potatoes that stay soft on the inside and dark and crisp outside. Here's where the Red Clay cooks can do better than many home cooks with an essentially homey dish, by having time to brown the meat thoroughly before and cook the stew over a long, low flame. Few of the desserts take advantage of the prominently displayed wood oven, unfortunately. For once, the wait is worth it. Wines, it will come as no surprise to learn, are unadventurous and moderately priced-carefully and discerningly chosen, it should be noted, to complement the toasty brown flavors.