THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Christopher's Fermier Brasserie & Paola's Wine Bar

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Christopher's Fermier Brasserie & Paola's Wine Bar Restaurant Review:

This restaurant is now Christopher's Restaurant & Crush Lounge. Christopher Gross' restaurant will remind you that he's a famous chef. The walls are dotted with awards and photos of him and his sommelier partner, Paola, schmoozing with everyone from Charlie Trotter and Emeril to Jacques Pepin and Julia Child. But it's the food at this lightly starched, white-collar farmer's tavern that will bathe you in the self-realizing light of the talent required to beget such celebrity. Gross' reputation has for so long been ensconced in classic, French gastronomy that the fact of his Missouri-born roots still strikes many with the irony of urban myth. Since the closure of his first two high-end restaurants, however---Christopher's and The Bistro---Gross's ability to re-create himself at the Fermier has left his reputation intact. Despite the informal setting, the food is as high brow as ever. For proof, try the wild mushroom and foie gras soup. Roasted sweetbreads and saddle of rabbit (offered as daily specials) are also excellent, as are wood-fired pizzas, hanger steak, elegant salads and Chris's legendary Chocolate Tower dessert. On the menu, Chris's partner Paola has paired an appropriate wine---plucked from a global inventory---for every course. With a rotating list of over 100 selections by the glass alone, toasts here can bring as many countries together as a session at the U.N. Given its impressive wine selection, sophisticated cheese course and terrific food, Christopher's Fermier should have no problem keeping those of us who hunger for a taste of Paris down on the farm.