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Chef and co-owner Sebastien Aubert, who runs the homey Kaz An Nou with his wife, Michelle Lane, makes for an impossibly cheerful multitasker. On any given night, the handsome, accented restaurateur (formerly of Ivo & Lulu) can be found scampering through the dining room, popping BYO bottles, delivering plates, and describing dishes to inquiring guests with endearingly thorough attention to detail. And inquire they do—to identify what in the escargots garlic-butter sauce so beguiles (is it the cilantro, perhaps?), or to pinpoint the bowl-licking secret to the dumpling-and-shrimp stew from Aubert’s native Guadaloupe (a chile-spiked roux is at least partly to credit). It’s apt treatment at a restaurant whose name means "our house" in creole. True, some of the dishes have equally homespun imperfections, but we're still left wondering why Aubert doesn't charge more for such lovingly made fare. On second thought, we’re happy to let that one go unanswered. — Kate Lowenstein

Escargots, $10; Dombrés crevettes, $17