The thrilling “fish and chips” starter at Élevage belies its name, as battered cod and French fries are nowhere to be found. Instead, a square slab of slate is used as a canvas for brushstrokes of ranch tartar sauce topped with a few small squares of seared sushi grade tuna, each piece of luscious fish accompanied by a sliver of tiny fried pickle, a few diminutive crisp potato chips, some micro greens and a lighter-than-air ball of suspended malt vinegar. The restaurant’s hanger steak gets an equally unforgettable transformation: fork tender, this humble cut can pretend to be chateaubriand as it surrounds a long marrow bone, split lengthwise, with gorgeous chunks of rare beef swimming in a heady hickory-smoked bordelaise sauce. And the ubiquitous steak house creamed spinach ends up as croquettes. Brilliant.
This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2014.