Anton's at the Swan is a perfectly pleasant way to spend an evening, but I suspect that with a bit more aggression in the kitchen, it could become excellent.

A lot of restaurants spend a great deal of money on atmosphere, on a carefully calibrated air of sophistication and subtle beauty in which they hope their guests will feel at ease and comfortable. Anton's at the Swan, however, does not have to work terribly hard to accomplish this: It is housed in a historic hotel whose charming and slightly time-worn interior instantly makes guests feel at ease.

I was struck, too, by the genuine warmth of the service throughout the evening, and found the perfect balance between attentive and friendly, without crossing over to the realm of the fawning and chatty. In an era when excellent food is too often undermined by shoddy or unprofessional service, my experience at Anton's was not only pleasant but somewhat revelatory.

My meal, however, suffered from some inconsistency. None of it proved fatal to my overall enjoyment, however, and if the kitchen remedies some of its mistakes, Anton's will surely become a destination restaurant.

As with so many restaurants I've visited lately, the appetizers at Anton's proved to be the highlight of the meal. The Baby Arugula Salad ($8) with goat cheese and roasted beets was delightful. It was served with a nice vinaigrette and studded with mild yet tasty chunks of goat cheese whose saltiness was pleasantly offset by the sweet sliced beets. The vinaigrette was perhaps a bit heavy-handed, but not enough to detract from the overall excellent composition of the salad.

The Sautéed Crab cake ($13) was a bit on the pricy side for an appetizer portion, but after one bite I completely forgot about the cost. This, indeed, was the Platonic Ideal of the crab cake---moist and deftly seasoned, a lovely brown crust from the heat of the pan covering the outside, and generous lumps of crab meat whose natural sweetness shone through brilliantly. It was set atop a bed of roasted red cabbage and surrounded by dollops of homemade tartar sauce whose lemony undertones put to shame every other tartar I've had recently. I only wish the crab cake had also been offered as an entrée, too.

Both the Filet Mignon ($32) and Seared Tuna ($30) suffered from underseasoning and poorly executed accompanying vegetables. The filet was tender and cooked exactly to my specifications, but it seemed as if the kitchen had relied on the few chunks of blue cheese resting atop it, instead of seasoning it with enough salt. With filet, mild as it is, a generous application of salt can work wonders in coaxing out flavor. Unfortunately, that just did not happen here.

The seared tuna suffered a similar fate. I'm a big believer in the importance of seasoning or crusting seared tuna with something that will compliment or offset its natural richness. This one, however, was devoid of any such treatment or, if it had been seasoned, was done too timidly to make much of a difference. This was unfortunate, because the truffled mashed potatoes and red wine sauce were quite lovely, and would have been even more so had the fish been as flavorful.

The Chocolate Torte ($8), however, was excellent. It was neither too sweet nor too rich, and the pieces of biscotti baked into it were an excellent creative touch.

All things considered, Anton's at the Swan was certainly a perfectly pleasant way to spend the evening, but I suspect that with a bit more aggression in the kitchen, it could become excellent. The service and atmosphere are already there, and, with a bit of effort, the food will catch up. When that happens, Anton's will have staked out a spot on the firmament of the local food scene.