MORE THAN JUST A STEAKHOUSE It is not your typical steakhouse. e newest arrival in the M. Wells family of restaurants is anything and everything besides just a steakhouse. e wallpaper is a brilliant metallic tapestry strewn with hidden fowl. Where the ceiling turns upward into skylights, the patterns of the paper stretch out into larger beasts, owers, and plants. It’s as if the entire ceiling is swimming around, and the four vaulted skylights are like escape ways for the hidden creatures to retreat back into the wild—or to simply sit perched staring down at curious carnivores and pescetarians. In a Napoleonic tradition of aristocracy, corks—still attached to the severed neck of the champagne bottle—clunk to the oor at the swing of a sabre. A couple at the Chef’s Counter sips glasses of Nero Né while trout swim beneath the glass countertop. Beside the trout tank sit four panoramas—two yet-tobe decorated. One of the designs—perhaps representing Chef Hugue Dufour and his wife, Sarah Obraitis—is of a couple relaxing by their cabin in the mountains, surrounded by grapes and mushrooms, and decorations of nuts and berries, as if to celebrate the fruits of their labor. e entire space is like a breathtaking tribute to the dichotomy between work and play. From the outside, the space is merely an old rundown garage, while in actuality it is an epicurean sanctuary on the inside. e menu is equally brilliant and ba ing. Appetizers can easily pass for full meals, and there is so much more than simply steak—though it is very much a presence, with or without the bone, intended to serve just one, or an entire party. My experiences there have been somewhat surreal, as is everything touched by the chef and his wife. My rst visit, a bag secured by a drawstring was the rst thing presented at the table, and we stare at it, almost waiting for something to Story BRADLEY HAWKS FOOD Everything is luxurious. A hand painted mural in the skylights
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