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Bistro du Vent has the same casual, sturdy look of other Joe Bastianich/Mario Batali ventures. A bright red awning hangs outside the window, and the wood-cut tables and chairs are blocky and thick, and varnished a dark, woodsy color. There’s a cozy, dimly lit room in the back with red leather banquettes along the walls, and a bar and café area in the front that is small, even stunted, by Bastianich-Batali standards. The captain of this drafty little ship is another talented non-Frenchman, David Pasternack (Esca). For such an innovative chef (we can thank Mr. Pasternack for the crudo craze), his cooking at Bistro du Vent is resolutely, even doggedly, by the book. The appetizers include the requisite boudins, two kinds of pâté, and a decent, though beefy-tasting onion soup, served in a polished white tureen. None of this food is very original, but none of it is very bad, either. The best, predictably, are the earthy dishes: the terrines, the boudins, and the simmering meat dishes. Bistro du Vent serves one of the better salad frisées in all of Hell’s Kitchen, and if you crave an oversize, reasonably priced lamb shank after the theater, this is a good place to find one. If you’re looking for light, inventive, Esca-like seafood interpretations at this bistro, however, you’re out of luck. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Beef daube, $18; roast chicken, $21; profiteroles, $7

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New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (2/28/05)