Three reasons to love Troquet

1) The kitchen is open to the dining room. This in itself is hardly unique, but open kitchens are more usually found in large spaces, where diners' conversation and overhead music drown out the clatter of pans. Troquet, however, is a small, intimate space, so if you sit at the table nearest the kitchen, you get to hear "Does anyone have a small saucepan?" and "Sweet Jesus!" and other phrases that remind you there are real people cooking your fabulous food.

2) Troquet's menu is in three columns: apps on the left, entrees on the right, and selected wine pairings in the middle. And every glass is well chosen and harmonious. It's a great way to try something a little unusual without risking a poor choice.

3) And this is main reason: the butter comes in a bucket. Okay, not really a bucket; it's an attractive, rustic wooden churn-barrel thingy. The waiter brings it to your table. And serves you a scoop of lovely, fresh, imported French butter. And laughs good-naturedly when you make the same request as every other frickin' diner that he leave the bucket on the table.

Runner-up reasons to love Troquet: the rolling cheese cart; the roast suckling pig (rib, belly, shoulder, rilette); the bacon-wrapped sea bass on fresh succotash; the lemon tart ...