GlassHalFull lives up to its name

According to Mickey Maloney, who opened GlassHalFull in March with partner Jim Wald, the restaurant's name was suggested by a friend while contemplating a freshly poured glass of 2006 Knobloch pinot noir blanc.

OK, I made up the part about the pinot noir blanc. But that's the scene as I imagine it, partly because the wine - a German white made with a red grape more commonly associated with French burgundies and blanc de noir champagnes - is representative of the intelligently chosen Old World-leaning selection at GlassHalFull. And partly, I'm sure, because I was so taken with the Knobloch's beautifully balanced fruit and mineral crispness on a recent visit.

Actually, I suppose GlassHalFull's playfully optimistic moniker could have been inspired by any one of the wine bar's 26 wines available by the (3-ounce or 5-ounce) glass or bottle - or, for that matter, any of the 350 sold in the adjoining retail wine shop. It could have been, say, the Sumarocca cava brut reserva, the Spanish sparkler that paired so effortlessly with a salad of mixed greens, grilled radicchio and fried Celebrity Dairy goat cheese on a recent visit. Maybe it was the Daulny Sancerre, whose flinty acidity held its own with the cilantro-spangled citrus marinade of a halibut seviche. Or maybe it was the Nicolas Rossignol burgundy, a versatile wine that was a textbook match for a petit filet mignon with roasted shallot butter one night, and proved an equally affable companion for chicken sate on another visit.

The sate, I should note, is hardly your run-of-the-mill rendition. Rather than thin strips of chicken breast, which invariably get dried out under the intense heat of the grill, chef Rob Piccirilli loads bamboo skewers with plump nuggets of marinated chicken thigh, which are far more succulent. As it happens, they're also one of the many signs of the informed palate and attention to detail that characterize Piccirilli's seasonally changing small plate offering.

The marigold petals that are woven into the vegetarian tapestry of a farro salad with mozzarella and seasonal local vegetables are another of those telltale signs. So is the scent of truffle oil that wafts up from a plate of impeccably crisp, golden pommes frites. Ditto the precise cut of tiny diced carrots and red peppers in a Moroccan-spiced dish of garbanzo beans. And the cheese plate - not just the selection, but the fact that the cheeses are served at the proper temperature. Come to think of it, you could easily nibble your way through a succession of tapas offerings at GlassHalFull and not realize until the end that the whole meal has been vegetarian.

Mind you, I'm not recommending that you should set out with that goal in mind - unless, of course, you are a vegetarian. The rest of us would hardly want to miss out on that butter-soft petit filet, or the chicken sate, or other carnivorous delights such as hoisin-glazed baby back ribs, and "spicy Spanish style" North Carolina shrimp sauteed in olive oil with garlic, crushed red pepper and a touch of brandy.

And unless you're a vegan, you sure don't want to skip dessert, with options such as basil ice cream and a cake whose layers - blueberry semifreddo and marzipan cake - are as delightful as they are improbable.

Miscues are rare, and they're generally minor. The batter crust on green tomato and corn fritters was almost - but not quite - as crisp as it should be, for instance. The only dish I'd have sent back if I wasn't dining anonymously was a dessert offering of crostini topped with Valrhona chocolate, olive oil and sea salt - way too much sea salt.

The wait staff is knowledgeable and accommodating - which should come as no surprise, given that Mickey Maloney once managed the front of the house at Magnolia Grill. And you can chalk up the quality of the wine selection largely to Jim Wald's experience as a manager of the wine department at Fowler's. Maloney and Wald sold their stakes in a wine distributorship to open GlassHalFull. I'd say the optimistic name of their venture is more than justified.