It was 7:40 p.m. and I was a little worried. My friend and I were the only diners at Astor Street, the new restaurant in the Astor Hotel.

Being the last table of the night can be very good or very bad, depending on how good a restaurant is. In a well-run establishment, every customer - even the last - is important and deserves the time and attention that make a good meal. In a poorly run place, the staff may try to hurry you out or just ignore you.

Our dinner told us that Astor Street was a well-run restaurant. Our waiter and Chef Gus Anthonasin made it as pleasant a meal as I've had anywhere this year.

The nightly special, a boneless chicken breast ($11.95), had been cut in chunks, dipped in a light egg wash (a thin mixture of egg and flour), sauteed, covered with fresh pesto sauce and tossed with mostaccioli noodles. It was one of the few chicken-pasta combinations I've eaten during the current pasta craze that really tasted good.

We ordered a 9-ounce filet mignon ($14.95) medium. A cut into the middle of the 1 1/2-inch-thick steak revealed the perfect pink, warm center we sought. It was tender and full-flavored beneath a light blanket of sauteed mushrooms.

This was my second visit to Astor Street, the restaurant that replaced the old Nantucket Shores last May. And after two dinners and a Sunday brunch there, I'd recommend it as a reasonably priced spot to consider before a show or whenever you find yourself looking for a casual dinner downtown.

Before it closed in January 1996, Nantucket Shores had been an upscale destination with traditional entrees.

Remodeling changed that. The new 90-seat restaurant is much more casual. Oak Windsor chairs and tables have replaced the old booths and linens. There are plans to feature jazz at brunch this Sunday and at various times over the next two months.

The menu has changed, too. Anthonasin specializes in "retro cuisine," and prepares dishes that disappeared from menus years ago. I sampled two of them and was impressed with both braised beef with horseradish sauce ($10.95) and a braised stuffed pork chop ($9.95).

Braising (cooking in a covered pot with a little liquid) made the beef tender and produced a delicious gravy. I would have preferred the horseradish sauce on the side.

The thick pork chop was filled with a homemade caraway bread stuffing, and reminded me of family dinners 40 years ago.

But not all the entrees on the Astor Street menu were retro. Silver dollar scallops ($15.95) were simple, fresh and straight-forward. Nine of the large shellfish had been lightly coated with an egg wash, sauteed, and served steaming and sweet from the skillet.

Another nightly special ($11.95) was a chicken breast stuffed with ham and cheese, sauteed, then served with a thin layer of cooked spinach.

Any worries I had about too strong a spinach flavor disappeared with my first taste: Each flavor emerged on every bite.

Side dishes received as much attention as entrees. Our dinners came with fresh, warm homemade bread (one loaf was stuffed with ham and cheese); fresh broccoli; tiny new potatoes; and a choice of colorful salads or soups (chicken dumpling or navy bean). Only one retro item missed the mark - a mayonnaise-based, seven-layer salad topping was too thick to spread out over the salad well.

For appetizers, six escargot in garlic butter ($6.95) were covered with small disks of puff pastry, while mushrooms casino ($4.95) delivered a dozen caps in garlic butter. And shrimp de jonghe ($6.95) gave us five shrimp baked in garlic butter with sweet bread crumbs and bits of diced sweet red bell pepper.

Three of the four desserts ($2.95 each) we tried - apple pie, carrot cake and tiramisu - were all very good. But the crust of a key lime pie was too tough and the pie needed a tarter filling.

At brunch, we liked tenderloin Benedict ($8.95) and eggs Sardou ($7.25). The first layered two poached eggs, two slices of filet mignon, crab meat and Bearnaise sauce on top of English muffins. The second covered two poached eggs with diced ham, scallions and Hollandaise sauce.

It took us a minute before we saw the humor of Yuppie Eggs ($5.95): Health-conscious yuppies don't eat eggs. So the dish, which was good, combined grilled zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms, puff pastry and creamy boursin cheese.

Brunch was served with small, sweet hazelnut breads and sweet, flaky pastry, but I didn't understand why the restaurant's host served us only two of each of them. (There were three of us at the table.) And when entrees arrived, I found myself craving toast.

Service at both dinners was better than at brunch. Our waiter knew the menu well and didn't hesitate to explain or recommend dishes.

Three Star Rating

From Dining With Dennis Getto, as appeared in the Milwaukee Journal.