"Top Chef" alum Radhika Desai's menu at English wows with flavorsome lobster and white truffle mac and cheese as well as red beets with whipped goat cheese and pistachios. The mac and cheese is a rich, gooey goodness baked with parmesan and cheddar cheese, along with garlic, truffle oil and tasty, chewy, small chunks of lobster. The mac and cheese is filling and satisfyingly scrumptious with bread crumbs on top, and the beets are delightful as well.

Desai, who oversees the new menu at English, delivers some new selections, including an expanded lineup of English pub grub, sliders, sandwiches and bar snacks, plus old favorites (fish and chips, bangers and mash, and English Crisps). She previously impressed Chicago foodies with her bold flavors and small plates with many seafood options at Between Boutique Cafe and Lounge in Wicker Park.

Other new English dishes under Desai's reign include the duck confit dumplings, with tender farm-raised duck tucked into deep-fried wonton crisps and served with a Bordeaux-spiked strawberry jam; curry mussels steamed in a rich ginger-garlic curry sauce; and shepherd's pie, made of ground lamb with mushrooms, carrots, onions, peas and house-made gravy baked in a cast-iron pot with a mashed potato topping.

Get there early to score a seat at an umbrella table outside on a sunny spring day, and people-watch passers-by while a pair of guys at the next table strain their necks to get a better look at well-heeled and well-endowed women passing by them.

Inside, billiard tables scatter throughout the space, which recalls the Art Deco era with pastel terra cotta, ornate ironwork, carefully detailed chandeliers, tile mosaics and vintage photographs of Chicago.

Average cost: $10-$20

Centerstage Reviewer: Mary Susan Littlepage