Hurry Up and Slow Down

Five desserts are offered under the Sweet Level, further explained by "No, I Shouldn't, I Couldn't, Well, Maybe ... ," which is too cute, as are the presentations of four doughnut bites with warm chocolate sauce ($9) and three little logs of dryish cherry cola cake ($9) served with whipped cream. I don't quite understand the philosophy of the menu: Much of what we ordered seems like toy food, not really satisfying. Only the tuna tartare tasted like it came from a first-class kitchen.

When we return for lunch, the light-filled atrium is even more stunning. We wander around, finding snug loungelike spaces tucked behind the bar with their own big TVs, and computer setups at smaller tables. Level III could function nicely as a semiprivate refuge from the big city while nursing a $2.25 cup of coffee or a $12 cocktail.

But we're here for lunch on a workday, so we order shrimp and vegetable tempura ($12) for the light eater and filet "au poivre" ($32) for the hungry one. Bizarrely (especially considering the rapid piling-on of plates at dinner) it takes fully 45 minutes for the food to reach us — and the restaurant is nearly empty. The tempura is beautifully displayed, wrapped in paper in a wooden box. There are three long shrimp, carrots, green beans, asparagus, zucchini, and yellow squash, all in a thin crisp batter, decorated with sprouts, and served with a thick, sweet yuzu-soy sauce. The surprisingly thick chunk of good steak, dusted with lots of pepper, sits atop a layer of fries, garlicky as requested, and comes with a lovely cognac veal jus. Along with the tartare, it's the best dish we've had here.

It's another surprisingly long wait before we receive our Boston cream pie ($8), and this time "cream" should have been in quotes, because there's no sign of the custard that makes it a cream pie. But it's a good treat: tender sponge cake layered with Earl Grey–flavored chocolate ganache, with whipped cream, candied almonds, and squiggles of caramel sauce.

On the way out, we snag cups of cucumber-and-lemon-flavored water from a spa-like display near the bar. What's up with the service, we wondered? No businesspeople could sacrifice two hours for two courses at lunch, and we almost got the bum's rush at dinner. And the food is all over the place. Level III is stylish, but confused.