Farm To Skyscraper

Crown Shy brings uncommon finesse to Fidi.

- Adam Platt

SO WHAT IDENTIFIES a restaurant of high purpose and ambition in this post-gourmet era of skyrocketing costs, shrinking menus, and ever smaller, simpler (and louder) dining rooms? An esoteric, slightly puzzling name is helpful when it comes to telegraphing a certain kind of poetic gravitas, and so is the sound, as dinner proceeds, of the kitchen staff calling out to each other in the spirited Japanese style. An obsession with different varieties of fresh-baked bread seems to be a sign of a serious kitchen these days (especially if you have to pay extra for it), along with at least one signature large-format farmto-table dish (côte de boeuf, the ubiquitous chicken for two) and, of course, a preoccupation with vegetables served in all sorts of artful, seasonally appropriate forms.