Saxon + Parole Restaurant By Chef Brad Farmerie

There is plenty of good food at the new Saxon + Parole, but we fell especially hard for the razor clams ($10).

Buried in the Aquatic Delights section high on the left side of the menu, the description reads like a humdrum concession: "razor clams & egg salad, toasted baguette."

Banal, it is not.

Chef Brad Farmerie throws the oblong bivalves into a hot pan and steams them with garlic and Aleppo pepper. When the clams creak open, he splashes them with lemon juice. He then dices the clams and binds them with aioli, grated hard-boiled egg and a flash of chives and fennels fronds.

For serving, two halved razor clam shells are loaded with the delicate mixture and joined by a wedge of lemon, radishes, grilled bread and iceberg lettuce. Spritz, crunch, crackle.

Saxon + Parole's space feels much like its predecessor, Double Crown, but with a more rural, pubby bent. It is as if the British imperialist design was sent to farm camp.

Eaten as is or garnished with an optional hillock of caviar, the sea-inflected egg salad is both primal and luxe, and its price tag is shockingly reasonable.

This is pub food for the posh.

Saxon + Parole, 316 Bowery (at Bleecker St.); 212-254-0350 or saxonandparole.com