Accompaniments are to be admired: several bean salads, nicely flavored with fresh herbs, snap peas, squashes.

BABCOCK VINEYARDS, TROC, CLARET, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY 1998: $14 Subdued Bordeaux aromas, nicely flavored with herbal undertones.

Both the venison and the quail are cooked to order, with the meat retaining just enough wildness to keep it interesting, the risotto nicely flavored by roasted shallots and the bright, crisp-tender green beans a treat in the dead of winter.

The Caesar was classic, and the baby spinach nicely flavored by its warm smoked-bacon-apple balsamic dressing.

In Greenwich Village, OUT OF THE KITCHEN offers straightforward renditions of unfailingly popular home classics, like moist, earthy meatloaf ($9.50) and roast chicken ($8) nicely flavored with thyme.

Two poultry dishes, a confit of duck ($17) and chicken breast with prunes and almonds ($16 and almost like a North African tajine) were too dry, though nicely flavored.

Pork chops ($11), nicely flavored with allspice and nutmeg, are served with sweet squash and a very unusual corn bread that is almost as much dumpling as bread.

The pork chop stuffed with chorizo and bread crumbs is nicely flavored but mine was extra brown on the outside and nearly raw in the middle.

Postage stamp raviolis filled with huitlacoche were a trifle chewy but nicely flavored in a sheer green chili sauce with a dusting of cheese.