BRADLEY OGDEN'S BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER

California chef and restaurant owner Ogden goes in for humble traditions with nouvelle or just unexpected touches (grits and garlic custards; crab hash), dressed-up American regional foods (corn and chile timbale), and a few upscale imports (fresh Italian buffalo mozzarella with black olive paste). Open to almost any page and you'll find a dish—black bean salad with hot chilies and beer; spit-roasted New York strip with wild onion-chanterelle compote- -worth citing for its bright, imaginative, yet never flighty panache. The operations aren't daunting, either, though occasional local or imported or expensive ingredients might well deter the average browser. A shot in the arm, though, for sophisticated but not necessarily ambitious foodies.