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When news that Top Chef's inaugural winner, Harold Dieterle, had opened his very own restaurant in the West Village, I put off my visit for as long as possible. After all, who wants to eat chunks of rainbow trout weirdly paired with polenta (the unfortunate creation of a recent ex-contestant), or an endless parade of neon-colored pork dishes (pork being the ingredient of choice, these days, among restaurant and reality-TV chefs alike)? The name of Dieterle’s new restaurant is Perilla, which is the formal name for the tangy, mint-related herb the Japanese call shiso. But despite this bit of preciousness, there is nothing too precious, or disastrously kitschy, about the restaurant itself. It’s a solid, satisfying, somewhat cautiously conceived neighborhood restaurant—a place, in fact, about as far away, in tone and purpose, from the bright, harried kitchens of a reality-television show as it’s possible to be. — Adam Platt

Skillet-braised cuttlefish or duck meatballs, steamed red snapper, cashew financière, creamed corn.

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• Adam Platt's Full Review (8/20/07)

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• Where to Eat 2008 (1/7/08)
• Restaurant Openings: Spirito Ristorante, Perilla, Casellula Cheese & Wine Café, and Sandro’s (5/14/07)