THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Ambrosia on Huntington

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Ambrosia on Huntington Restaurant Review:

Chef/owner Tony Ambrose’s restaurant is a several-act culinary drama. First there’s the room, designed by his wife Dorene, featuring soaring ceilings, a West Coast color scheme, and a second-floor kitchen complete with windows. Then there’s the crowd. At the beginning of the night and throughout the week, it’s a haven for company card-carriers and high-falutin’ foodies. Later on, things perk up as Euros and other moneyed expats move in for a pre-club snack. The bar serves a menu of small bites until 1 a.m. But who could forget the food. Ambrose is a product of Boston’s often-incestuous dining scene (he cooked alongside Gordon Hamersley, Susan Regis, and Lydia Shire at Seasons), but one of his main influences is that mad chemist of a French chef named Olivier Roellinger. His food is a (sometimes self-consciously) flowery union of East and West. Infusions, heavy reductions, and flavored oils are all an integral part of his repertoire. So are po-mo plate presentations. Salads at Ambrosia can be terrific. The now-cliched combo of endive and Roquefort is born again with candied sesame seeds and an anise-honey vinaigrette. The ever-popular spring roll is filled with those dashing Peruvian purple potatoes and then challenged by a dynamic truffled cabernet sauce. Entrées are where Ambrose runs up against his old nemesis: Too much on a plate. Salmon is encrusted with pecans and garlic, spritzed with a sauternes-lemon sauce and plated with chive-and-chervil potatoes. It’s dizzying in its many-pronged flavor attack. The same goes for pink-peppercorn encrusted venison with crisp potato galette, celeriac and broccoli rabe plus a sweet soy and lingonberry glaze. We’ll sum things up for you: Tremendous technique, astonishing creativity, much-needed restraint.