The chef's not the only thing well-seasoned

Because escorts and the awesome, daily, city-based e-newsletters who use them shouldn't be the only ones who get to mix business with pleasure, Vitae's an angularly modern, art deco ode to New American hoping to bring burgers & booze to the business crowd, while simultaneously offering up destination-worthy eats from a chef who's worked in the country's best kitchens, from Gramercy Tavern to French Laundry.Concise and compelling, the fare kicks off with pulled pork tacos w/ tomato marmalade & creme fraiche, poached eggs w/ bacon and black truffle sauce, fusion-y diver scallops paired with raisins and red curry sauce, and a salad of pistachio, goat cheese, and heirloom bull's blood beets... but not through Eddy Curry's heart, which is why he was traded in the first place. A pasta section holds pleasers like herb risotto with shellfish & lobster sauce, while meat-forward mains include striped bass w/ salt pork & red-wine-olive sauce, cocoa-crusted venison loin, and a kitchen sink's worth of root vegetable, veal cheeks, tenderloin, brisket, and chive dumplings, which is a shame considering jive dumplings could have jazzed things up even more.And for the happiest of hours, extensive whiskey and wine lists back up 'tails adapted from famous tomes (e.g., a Pisco Sour from 1951's "The South American Gentleman's Companion"), and crafts from outfits like Left Hand and Pretty Things, who were hired to show up at the door of a certain awesome, daily, city-based e-newsletter in three, two, one...