A Lakeview bistro from a <em>Top Chef</em> vet

Hoping a restaurant can succeed with something slimy attached to it not named Gordon Ramsay, Frog n Snail's a brand-new bistro from Sprout & Top Chef vet Dale Levitski, sporting a swank-meets-swamp vibe befitting its namesakes: natural woods, green and brown tones, textured slate walls, and the occasional statue of a frog or a hippopotamus. Hmm. Actually one of those might not be right.

Either way, starters are divvied into two sections: "Mine All Mine", which consists of single-person servings ranging from brandade fishsticks with spicy San Marzano tomato sauce, to rotating preparations of (natch) escargot and frog legs, or those who actually had good kindergarten teachers can opt for shareable "Ours" plates like ricotta/ bacon/ broccoli dip with grilled baguettes. Entrees include beef stroganoff with homemade noodles and two kinds of beef (braised short ribs, pepper-crusted filet), and their take on steak frites, consisting of smoked-paprika-garlic fries alongside a rib eye topped w/ smearable olive oil-poached garlic & shallots, Cabrales bleu cheese, and pickled 'shrooms that would pair equally well with a chill helping of Phish.

If you're lucky enough to be a daywalker, they've got a coffee bar pouring La Colombe and a lunch menu sporting sammies like a fried green tomato 'n eggplant number topped w/ goat cheese, ranch aioli and charred zucchini-onion relish, something a certain ill-tempered Brit does every time he stomps on an aspiring chef's dreams.