212 Restaurant & Bar

The cheek-kissing crowd and the beachy vibe give the impression that 212's French and Italian co-owners have created a pan-Euro hangout for nationalist nostalgia. Yet given the emphasis on style, this place is surprisingly strong on substance, too. The New American menu successfully borrows from French, Italian, and Asian traditions, for savories like triangular slivers of tuna wrapped in a flaky crust with chunky avocado, pineapple, and a spicy dollop of mustard sauce. Piquant crab cakes may be on the skimpy side, but the stand-out lamb burger compensates with cucumber and mint yogurt lending a complex, sweet-tangy flavor. After 10 p.m., the lights dim, the house music intensifies, and the flirting shifts to the tiny bar, where the scantily clad staff mixes martinis from a stash of more than 100 vodkas. By night or day, as the owners would tell their chers amis, the prime people-watching spots are elevated tables #32 and #34, against the powder-blue back wall.