Bistro St. Mark's (Closed as of 2005)

We needed comfort tonight. I had a raging sore throat and my friend missed her niece, who was away at summer camp. Jessica, the bartender, supplied my friend with a complementary glass of Pinot Grigio, and Paula, our waitress, brought over a hot toddy for me. Thus soothed, we attempted to make some difficult choices. Shell steak with garlic butter? Thyme-seared tuna with soy-ginger sauce?

We decided to begin with the goat cheese salad with grape tomatoes. Cool oval slices of tart goat cheese topped a bed of greens lightly tossed with vinaigrette. The sweet tomatoes again made their appearance in the caramelized scallop dish I ordered. Browned scallops framed a mound of linguine in a subtle tomato coriander sauce with shiitake mushrooms and garlic cloves. Although I enjoyed my meal, my fork found its way over to my friend's plate and had difficulty returning to my own. My friend had the monkfish medallions in a sauce of dense creamed spinach punctuated by sweet nuggets of fresh corn. The accompanying plate of mashed potatoes seemed almost superfluous.

Dessert was a slightly easier decision, because I saw the words "warm" and "chocolate" in the same description. The popular chocolate cake with a molten center arrived with a side of pistachio ice cream which I ignored, proceeding to deflate the cake to watch the gooey melted fudge pour out. I skillfully emptied the cake of its contents, having much practice in this endeavor.

Sore throats heal, nieces come back from summer camp, and warm chocolate cake is eternal.

Bistro St. Mark's: 76 St. Mark's Ave., Brooklyn. (718) 857-8600.