We love the surprises that spring from chef and owner Andy Howell's culinary imagination. Just when we think we know every schnitzel in the Rustica playbook, he throws in a Portuguese seafood stew with chorizo, or a heartwarming Scottish tweed kettle of salmon and rutabaga. Even the simpler meals demand attention: Big strip steaks arrive sizzling hot in skillets, slathered in blue cheese-shallot butter. And when Howell's trademark wry humor makes it onto the menu page, our experience is all the richer.