Once again this year, Aquavit celebrated its annual herring festival in June. The basic buffet format remained unchanged from previous years, but there was some tweaking of the offerings, and the presentation was significantly improved, notably by clearly labeling almost all of the numerous dishes and by enhancing the visual appeal of the spread.

The restaurant offered an all-you-can-eat buffet for $27 at lunch and $48 at dinner. The meal was served in the Cafe, a clean, bright, modern looking space in the Scandanavian style, with eye-catching hanging light fixtures covered in scores of translucent white "sand dollars." The buffet was arrayed on two tables along one wall.

As you approached the buffet from the left, you were greeted first by a chafing dish of small yellow potatoes and a basket of breads containing both a classic Scandanavian crunchy dark flatbread and a crusty chewy-textured white bread studded with caraway seeds.

Next were the stars of the show, a dozen preparations of herring. Resting on ice-filled glass blocks were dishes of ten "wet" preparations. The mildest of these was bathed in a yogurt and cucumber mixture. Two of the other preparations, rullmops and pickled herring, were relatively unadorned.

The other choices all had fairly distinctive flavors. These included curried herring, herring in an espresso mustard sauce, herring in a sherry tomato sauce, herring with a sauce made of ramps, herring in a garlicy herb sauce, herring in a vodka lime sauce, garnished with red caviar, and strongly flavored matjes herring.

Oily, peppered kippered herring and a herring terrine with eggs, scallions and gelatin provided two "dry" options. Herring appeared again in a herring and potato salad, which was flavorful but seemed to consist almost totally of potatoes, although a member of my party implied that she may have removed most of the herring with which the dish began.

The "cold" table contained several non-herring dishes. A very delicate and mildly flavored gravlax was accompanied by a choice of sauces, and a large platter of hot smoked salmon came encrusted by a heavy layer of chopped dill. The salmon, to my tastes, had been overcooked and was overly firm.

The "cold" table also offered Gentleman's Delight, an anchovy flavored egg salad, and a calf's liver pate which had been considerably lightened in texture and taste by the addition of other ingredients. For those who wanted more balance to their meals, both a creditable mixed green salad and a feta and anchovy salad were available.

A "hot" table, perhaps superfluously, held two more traditional Scandanavian dishes. One, Swedish meatballs in a brown sauce, struck me as totally ordinary, although the lingonberry accompaniment was a welcome touch. The other, an addictive Jansson's Temptation, consisted of potatoes, onions, anchovies and a large enough quantity of cream to cancel out the health benefits from the fish oils in the herring dishes.

The wait staff provided pleasant and very attentive service and patiently answered questions about ingredients and preparations. They rapidly, almost obsessively, cleared dirty plates and replaced used silverware. As dishes on the buffet were depleted, they, too, were quickly and efficiently replenished, even when the lunch hour was coming to an end.

As herring is not to everyone's taste, Abraham Lincoln's statement that "for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like" comes to mind. Nevertheless, Aquavit has done a fine job with its herring festival, and those who like this sort of thing should find that this is the sort of thing they particularly like.