Ellen and I had lunch at Craft, Tom Colicchio's 2-year old restaurant on East 19th Street. It was the best $25 we have ever spent. We had very generous portions (neither of us could finish it all) and most of the dishes were intensely flavorful.

For appetizers, Ellen had delicious marinated arctic char served with lemon peel garnish and creme fraiche, while I selected duck ham, which I couldn't eat because it had too much olive oil on the salted duck, the one wrong note in an otherwise exemplary meal. For main courses, I had the braised short ribs and Ellen tried the roast cod. The cod was very good, but, compared with everything else, more tamely flavored and was not as good as the cod at Gramercy Tavern. The short ribs, however, were much better than the Gramercy Tavern version - in fact, even better than Gramercy Tavern's tender and savory beef cheeks - in a sauce reduction with lots of thyme.

The vegetable portions were very tasty as well. I got roasted Jerusalem artichokes and Ellen had Swiss chard stewed with small bits of sea salt mixed throughout. The artichokes were superior, but the chard was also very good. Both came in ample portions.

The desserts were stellar. Chef Karen deMarco also goes for powerful flavors, as exemplified by a rich steamed lemon pudding complimented by a lemon sauce studded with crystalized sugared thyme. Ellen chose lemon verbena panna cotta with fresh bing cherries and a minty green sauce.

The panna cotta was very good (although Ellen thinks the lemon was too sour) but did not seem to blend well with the mint concoction, which was, thankfully, on the side. The lemon pudding, however, was one of the best desserts we've had, a perfect blend of seasoned pudding and rich lemony sauce. The crystalized thyme leaves were the perfect accompaniment.

We were also able to choose among a number of ice creams and sorbets or fruit compotes. We took the blueberry and sour cherry compotes, which were excellent accompaniments for the panna cotta and the lemon pudding.

A lagniappe was a $10 certificate for the Craft Bar next door, specializing in small dishes and sandwiches.