Cut by Wolfgang Puck

I have eaten in a lot of dining rooms that try this hard. Cut by Wolfgang Puck is one of the few that pulls it off without looking like it is trying.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: Richard Meier white walls and California lighting. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with house-cured beef carpaccio, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a Chianti Classico Riserva I wrote down in my notebook, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: american wagyu strip, the dish that puts Cut by Wolfgang Puck on every short list. The seasoning was simple — salt, pepper, restraint — and it was the right call. The signature touch — the bone marrow flan — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for fried okra and a dab of remoulade and pommes Anna. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was a wedge of chocolate cake to share, fork divided, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

A perfect Sunday lunch, which is what I came for.