http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aKT2TntRz7mo&refer=muse

 Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Talk to Angela Hartnett about her Italian roots and you can almost feel the tribal closeness of an emigre family trying to make its way in Britain, and visualize the generations gathered around steaming dishes of pasta.

If it wasn't pasta it was probably battered plaice, because the Hartnetts owned chip shops, where Angela helped out. But eat in her London restaurants and you're unlikely to find much evidence of such hearty traditional fare, British or Italian.

She often favors refined dishes that give no more than a polite nod to her roots while offering instead a bow and a ``bonjour'' to M. Michelin. That's very much the case at Murano, which she opened a couple of months back, and there are traces of the approach at the York & Albany, which opened this week.

It's a potentially exciting venue, a John Nash coaching inn that dates from the 1820s and overlooks Regent's Park. Hartnett's employer, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, has renovated this fine building, which stood empty for years, and turned it into a boutique hotel featuring a charming delicatessen, a high- ceilinged bar with great cocktails and a restaurant on two levels.

I say potentially exciting because the look is also polite, reminiscent of those television shows where property owners are advised to avoid the funky for fear of alienating anyone. It's not without a touch of the B&Q home-improvement business, as if money ran short when it came to fittings.

Only in the basement, which houses an open-fronted kitchen and some of the diners, does designer Russell Sage let rip. Here, it's all deep reds and plush velvets, like an old cinema or a bordello. This is the place to sit for dinner.

Kitchen View

There's a clear view across the kitchen and no window to contain what might politely be described as the chefs' banter. Ramsay was in there on Wednesday night alongside Hartnett, 40, who was preparing starters such as swordfish carpaccio with chili and pickled fennel (9 pounds/$15.88); mains including Dover sole with minted new potatoes, creamed spinach and nutmeg (22 pounds); and rice pudding with roasted figs and other desserts at 6 pounds.

First up, though, was a giveaway warm chicken-liver parfait that was so rich and full of gutsy flavor, it almost overshadowed what followed. Among the starters, the biggest flavor came from the 18-month matured gorgonzola in the pumpkin risotto. Actually, the cheese is so loud, you can barely catch the whisper of the fruit. I don't care. I'd happily eat this anytime. It's one of the best dishes I have eaten this year.

(I went along with the chef Mark Hix, who ordered salad of deep-fried lamb's tongue and whispered in my ear -- unnecessarily, as it happened, ``Be nice to Angela.'')

Precision Cooking

What struck me most about other options, including a starter of grilled mackerel with apple and celeriac remoulade, pickled beetroot, was the precision of the cooking and of the seasoning.

Time after time over three meals, each dish delivered more than its limited promise, with the exception of Casterbridge rib-eye with red onions, wilted watercress and gratinated bone marrow. I really enjoyed this combination, but the meat itself - -from Britain's first grain-fed cattle -- lacked depth of flavor.

Desserts include a Manzanilla sherry trifle in a cocktail glass and other familiar favorites such as steamed treacle sponge pudding with vanilla custard.

The set lunch, at 15 pounds for three courses, is in no way inferior to a la carte. It is London's greatest dining bargain.

The wine list is reasonably priced, with quite a few options below 25 pounds, but it was frustrating to be told that the sommelier was based at Murano and to be served by people who didn't know the wines. York & Albany is less expensive than Murano -- and I prefer York & Albany -- but it is not cheap and I'm not sure if I'll return once Hartnett is back cooking at Murano. (I had a disappointing meal at Murano when she was at York & Albany.)

While the venue has many positives, the gastronomic logic of having Hartnett open two eateries escapes me, as does the business logic of a hotel in Camden. But as new Ramsay-backed restaurants go, it's the pick of the bunch. Well done, Angela.

York & Albany, 127-129 Parkway, London, NW1 7PS. Tel. +44- 20-7387-5700 or click on http://www.gordonramsay.com/yorkandalbany/.

The Bloomberg Questions

Cost? About 30 pounds a head, plus drinks.

Date place? You're asking that about a place with bedrooms?

Inside tip? Ground floor for lunch, basement for dinner.

Special feature? It's Ramsay's first London hotel.

Private room? Yes.

Will I be back? When in Camden.

Rating? ***


What the Stars Mean
****         Incomparable food, service, ambience.
***          First-class of its kind.
**           Good, reliable.
*            Fair.
0 (no stars) Poor.

(Richard Vines is the chief food critic for Bloomberg News Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Richard Vines, in London, at rvines@bloomberg.net.