Quarter-pound sirloin burger with bacon and cheese

Photograph: Jeff Gurwin

Elegant, often excellent and mostly empty: the hallmarks of Zaitzeff, an East Village spin-off of the Financial District hamburger spot. A handful of communal tables, each set with a charming cluster of mismatched candlesticks, were completely vacant when we visited. The rest of the sleek chocolate-toned interior—wine bottles arranged neatly on horizontal racks, intricate floor tiling—is almost too pretty for what the restaurant hawks: big, succulent burgers served in quarter- or half-pound patties (choose from sirloin, kobe, veggie or turkey), tucked into chewy Portuguese muffins. We preferred the lean sirloin to the vaguely metallic-tasting Nebraska-raised “kobe,” and the suggested temperature (burgers emerge medium unless otherwise requested) was well suited to the juicy, grass-fed meat. Fries are cooked in a cast-iron skillet, rather than a deep fryer, and the result— sweet or white potatoes sheathed in a crispy skin without the unpleasant flavor of old cooking oil—is better for it. There are options for the burger-weary, too: A tasty tuna salad featured fresh, ruby-colored slices of fish over peppery arugula and a confluence of dill, and a handful of turkey and chicken sandwiches round out the short menu. Just one dessert was available when we visited: a buttery, homespun apple tart that paired nicely with the last of our wine—spicy Coteaux du Languedoc ($36), one of many scores on the well-priced, international list. By 10pm Zaitzeff’s tables finally began to attract refugees from nearby bars. Given the quality of the place, treating it like a garden-variety postboozing destination just ain’t right.

—TONY