Specialties include succulent sausage brochettes, stuffed peppers with cheese, pan-fried zucchini topped with garlic-scented yogurt, tomato salads and excellent rice pudding.
Apart from that... ...... From the oddly off-putting selection of Small Eats ("buttered red onion pie with cheese"? "Pan-fried flat meat pasty"? Nyet), I chose the Russian herring with boiled potatoes because it had the virtue of bluntness.
Lunch is a sprightly mix of salads, grilled cheeseburgers and several hearty entrees (like beef stew, macaroni and cheese, pan-roasted salmon), plus an appealing turkey club sandwich with bacon, avocado, tomato and lettuce on wheat toast.
That's only one of the charms of this warm little country restaurant, with such contemporary American appetizers as pulled duck quesadilla with roasted vegetables and Monterey Jack cheese; pan-roasted baby clams with broccoli rabe, Black Forest ham, slow oven-cooked tomatoes and shellfish broth.
The Flaming Buoy This low-key hideaway on a charming residential street combines alluringly amber-lit ambience with cuisine that's simultaneously sophisticated and stick-to-your-ribs, including lobster mac-and-cheese, pan-seared hogfish with banana salsa, and beer-battered chicken with spicy waffles.
WHAT WE LIKE Maple creamed rock shrimp with corn bread and pancetta, braised beef, caramelized onion and Gorgonzola ravioli (special), fennel and apple salad, roasted beet and goat cheese salad; pan-seared sea scallops with celery-root pancake, braised beef short ribs, pan-roasted wild striped bass (special); brownie and ice cream, cranberry-raisin-chestnut bread pudding, apple crisp.
WHAT WE LIKED Burgers, bacon and cheese pizza, pan-roasted chicken breast, grits, sautéed kale, lemon custard.
The current menu includes cavatelli with walnut pesto and ricotta cheese; and pan-seared pork belly with summer beans and oregano vinaigrette.
Think raw salmon with lime, horseradish and garlic mustard; lightly salted sea trout with cucumber and dill in (yes) smoked curd cheese dressing; pan-fried mackerel with pickled tomatoes and rye bread toast.
