Dutch Treat

It's a rather poetic diss to the founders of our city that Dutch food is so vastly underrepresented. And while East Village newcomer Vandaag takes a step toward righting that, it's hardly why we're thrilled at its opening.

Chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark, recently departed from Corton, handles the classic flavors of Northern Europe with particular aplomb: The opening act of your meal might be an amuse bouche of guinea-hen liver and pickled-cherry mousse, a harbinger of autumn in a bite. Follow it with toast points ($6) on which a hood of melted cheese protects a swath of apricot jam.

A trek through the rather conservative territory of gravlax is warranted: In Clark's version ($13), house-cured ocean trout shares fork space with watercress, roe and crème fraîche--a textbook preparation, flawlessly executed.

But the real pyrotechnics take place when the menu stretches toward the east. Crispy lamb sweetbreads ($14) get seasoned with peppery dried-chicory root before they're doused in Maggi vinaigrette; wood-grilled quail ($23) is slick with the sweet-and-sour flavors of Indonesia (a former colony of the Netherlands).

Dessert is nonnegotiable: Eat the stroopwafel ($4) while hovering over your cup of coffee so as to better catch its clove-infused caramel innards. You might also want to dig into the smoutballen ($6), a warm, fist-size fritter filled with a creamy, Ovaltine-evoking custard.

Vandaag, 103 Second Ave. (at Sixth St.); 212-253-0470 or vandaagnyc.com