Food: ☆☆☆

Service: ☆☆☆½

Ambiance: ☆☆

Cost: $$$

Must try: Burrata with Ocean Trout, Avocado Gazpacho, Gold Bar

The King & Grove hotel in Williamsburg has a culinary party going on in its basement.

Paul Liebrandt has moved on from the accolades of the now shuttered “Corton” to create something quite different here.

At the Elm, Liebrandt along with executive chef Mazen Mustafa, offer a seasonally driven menu which has great small plate options.

Liebrandt’s fare is rather different from what was served up at Corton. What I like is that the dishes here are inspired yet casual and unusually affordable.

There were favorites such as the “Burrata with Ocean Trout”, which gets its unusual salmon like color by being fed a diet of ruby red shrimp! I loved the “Avocado Gazpacho”, which had wonderful tang and texture.

Desserts did not disappoint with the “English Custard” being one of my favorites.

I found the service to be a bit scattered – they forgot our bread and we had to ask for silverware but everyone was friendly and casual enough for us to have had a really great time.

Here is some of what we ate: