Is there a chef in the world who doesn't want to open his or her own restaurant? I doubt it. I can understand why someone would want total creative control, but the challenges of being an owner, particularly in a recession, on top of having to produce the food must be daunting.
But chefs continue to do it. One of the latest is Antoine Petteway, who had a loyal following when he worked at the Metropolitan, a couple of blocks from the location of his new place, the Hill. He's managed to stay on good terms with his former employers, which says something about the kind of person he is.
Petteway, I gather, is a major draw for the Hill. Neighborhood folks like him and know his food. The restaurant was almost full the night I was there. But outsiders who don't know what his kitchen does best and, therefore, what to order from the large menu might run into problems.
I would also say that if noise bothers you, don't plan to eat at the Hill during happy hour. The two dining rooms each contain part of the horseshoe-shaped bar. The renovations of what was once an Indian restaurant, Banjara, are handsomely done but include no fabric of any kind. Noise reverberates off the pressed-tin ceilings, the exposed pipes, the wood paneling and walls, the exposed brick wall and the big glass windows. The bar patrons were so noisy I couldn't even hear the weeks-old baby crying, and the parent holding him was right next to me.
Once it got a little later, though, the bar emptied and things quieted down. (And the parents wisely took their poor child home.)
The Hill's food is a combination of bar food and American with offbeat twists. Although the appetizers are called "Starters," they more closely resemble small plates. You could make a meal by having just a couple of them.
Sliders come in the usual trio, but this time they were seafood sliders, not beef. One was filled with lobster and bacon, one with shrimp and avocado and one with crab and chipotle aioli. They sounded fabulous, and the fillings were all good. But the cold Wonder bread-type buns didn't live up to what they contained.
One thing I noticed when I walked in was that just about everyone seemed to be having the crab cakes. There were too many other interesting dishes on the menu, but I did try mini-crab cakes as a first course. They were super, and I'm betting the crab cake entree is just as good, although these had kernels of corn and were deep fried, while the entree crab cakes are broiled.
