Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- My clam chowder, thick as Cream of Wheat, was topped with bits of chorizo. Her pork belly appetizer included a soft-cooked egg. Our dinner wine was a fruity Zweigelt.

She looked up. ``Doesn't this taste like breakfast with wine?'' she asked.

Those are the sorts of questions you'll be muttering at Dovetail, chef John Fraser's challenging new restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Smiles will be plentiful, too. Sure, Fraser is too inventive for his own good. He's also so talented he shouldn't be missed.

No matter how many extra elements you find in every dish, you'll be amazed at how adroitly each one is prepared.

How about a combination of fried capers, sour cream, salmon eggs, vodka gelee and chives? No, it's not a combo plate. It's a combo spoon: All of that arrives in one tasty, tablespoon-sized amuse-bouche.

Grilled venison loin is accompanied by rosemary-marshmallow puree, chestnuts and a yam-maple syrup mash. I checked my calendar: No, it wasn't Thanksgiving. The concoction was particularly well-received by a German guest who loves venison beyond reason, even accented with sticky-sweet white stuff. She said it was a little sillier but not much different from lingonberry sauce.

Mild and understated, the restaurant looks deceptively benign. It's not pretty; basic brown seldom is. The place reminded me -- and the German -- of a commercial hotel on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

Eccentric Touches

The hostess stand is so oversize you could nap on it. An eccentric touch in the center of the dining area is a large brick structure festooned with votive candles. It looks like a druid altar. The tables are wood-grain. Across the street from the restaurant is a junior high school that reminds me of an abandoned factory in an old Massachusetts mill town. All in all, not particularly deluxe.

Yet from the kitchen, luxury touches are standard. That amuse-bouche is one of several, all fun, none plain. There's a pre-dessert that tastes refreshingly simple: apple sorbet with a manchego cheese chip. Again, there's more -- yogurt panna cotta and caramelized pine nuts. The petits fours include a few bits of dried-out caramel candy and a delightful beet-and-cherry jelly, essentially a borscht Chuckle.

Fraser's fish preparations are more successful than those with meat -- more logical, too. (One recurring problem is that meat arrived sliced, causing it to dry out fast on the plate.) Each piece of fish, in contrast, was precisely prepared and came with nifty add-ons that never overwhelmed the primary ingredient.

Surf and Turf

My favorites were cod topped with a red-pepper coulis over a gorgeous crabmeat-infused risotto swirled with a puree of edamame beans. A triple combo platter of monkfish, butter- poached lobster claws and roasted foie gras could have been over the top but instead tasted like a lucky day at a buffet line. An appetizer called ``wings'' -- skate, shredded chicken wings and chickpea puree -- also blended well. Sometimes the magic just works.

The wine list isn't inexpensive -- few are anymore -- but it's unexpectedly thorough. That 2003 Austrian Zweigelt from Gangl ($54) is big, fruity and delicious. So are the 2005 white Montlouis Sur Loire from Chidaine ($52) and the 2004 red Rioja from Finca Allende ($58). Ripe and uncomplicated is the wine you want for food this ambitious.

Bacon Brittle

The pastry chef, Vera Tong, is hardly a wallflower, although she's more restrained than Fraser -- except now and then. Brioche bread pudding with bacon brittle tastes like breakfast, too. I loved it.

Her ice creams were terrific, except for a shockingly bitter balsamic vinegar lab experiment. The pain d'epices tasted like Christmas. Quince-and-pineapple crumble is safely satisfying and the almond souffle tart is fabulous -- small, creamy and stuffed with a winter fruit compote.

Service is pleasant and plentiful but, except for the wine department, rather ditzy. Ask for something and there's no telling when it will arrive. And just try getting your check at the end of the meal.

I can't predict who will be thankful for Dovetail and who will not. One of my friends referred to it as Attention Deficit Dining. I found it exuberant and shocking, the X Games of cuisine.

The Bloomberg Questions

Cost? Prices range from $12 for clam chowder to $36 for monkfish.

Sound level? Saved by the weird padded walls. The room has a big buzz, but tableside conversation isn't difficult.

Date place? One Jewish friend who dates exclusively on the Upper West Side said, ``I'm certain this will become one of the stations of the cross of Jewish dating. It's dark and romantically lit.''

Inside tip? The corn bread is sweet, fragrant, moist and ultra-rich from a cheddar cheese infusion. Ask for more immediately and hope it arrives before dessert.

Special feature? For a place that's allegedly going to be a nexus of Jewish dating, there's an awful lot of pork.

Private room? Yes.

Lunch? No.

Will I be back? Fraser is too promising to ignore.

Dovetail is at 103 W. 77th St., Manhattan. Information: +1-212-362-3800; http://www.dovetailnyc.com.

Rating: **

                        What the Stars Mean

****         Incomparable food, service, ambience.
***          First-class of its kind.
**           Good, reliable.
*            Fair.
(no stars)   Poor.

(Alan Richman is the New York restaurant critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Alan Richman at thecritic@optonline.net.

Last Updated: January 23, 2008 00:37 EST