Chow in Dogpatch

Our favorite starter is the savory bread pudding, a not-particularly-attractive-at-first-glance hillock that conceals nettles, roasted onions, and melty Swiss cheese under its brown exterior, enlivened by a thin green herb sauce. (For an extra $5, roasted carrots and mixed greens can be added to make a perfect vegetarian, if not vegan, entrée.) Juicy grilled lamb riblets atop fava-bean purée and under crumbs of French feta could serve as a starter or light main course.

Other very good dishes included a nice chunk of seared black Alaskan cod set on a thoughtful assemblage of flageolet beans, roasted sunchokes, black trumpet mushrooms, fennel, and baby mustard greens with Meyer lemon aioli; and pan-roasted lamb chops, surrounded by tasty crusted fat, with French green lentils, bacon chunks, and roasted spring shallots. The only disappointment was a rather dull roast half-chicken, the breast nicely cooked but the disjointed thigh still slightly bloody at the bone. It was paired with some white grits, a frill of uncooked and undressed baby spinach bearing no trace of the advertised roasted shallot vinaigrette, and some tasty butternut squash.

There's an interesting wine list, and a seductive list of after-dinner drinks, ready to complement some splendid desserts. The individual chocolate cake is ringed with crème anglaise, sided with a ball of Bi-Rite vanilla ice cream, and boasts syrupy candied kumquats. A fragrant Earl Grey–scented pot de crème comes with a perfumey bergamot granita. We've never had a better lemon meringue pie than the fragile, flaky-pastried Meyer lemon tart served here, criss-crossed with toasted marshmallow meringue and served with blood orange segments.

When our server noticed we had cleaned two of our dessert plates but were not nearly as enthusiastic about the massive but undistinguished portion of apple compote topped with walnut streusel and whipped cream, it didn't appear on our check. That was a singularly thoughtful gesture. Serpentine comprises an accumulation of such thoughtful gestures, from its setting to its very satisfying food and drink. Welcome to the neighborhood!