First there was Harry, a partner in St. Elmo Steak House, who joined the operation in the late 1940s. Then there was Izzy, Harry's longtime buddy (they met at the tender age of 10), whom he brought into the business in 1956.

Now there's Harry & Izzy's, a "sister restaurant" to St. Elmo that honors the colorful characters who helmed the legendary steakhouse for four decades -- give or take.

It's an homage to be proud of, nuzzled into the same block as its forebear and appointed so that when you walk in (or glimpse it from the windows along Illinois Street) it's right where you want to be.

The Food

The menu is short and focused. On it you find the famous St. Elmo shrimp cocktail, of course, as well as steaks, pork, veal, a few pizzas and pasta dishes (including a vegetarian version) for good measure.

We started with escargot in a cast-iron pot ($10), a heady concoction in which mollusks mingled with morel mushrooms in a delicate parsley-cream sauce.

The oven-roasted beet salad ($6) incorporated oranges, candied walnuts, and goat cheese in a subtle tarragon vinaigrette. A vibrant salad of romaine hearts, apples, bleu cheese and candied walnuts ($7) danced on the tongue. It must've been the champagne-rosemary vinaigrette.

A 16-ounce New York strip ($33) hardly needed a steak knife and held robust flavor inside its perfect sear. Thick potato pancakes had a lightly sour tinge and crisp brown outsides. Fried trout ($18) is served atop a relish of sauteed corn, apples, onions and red peppers. Scoop it up with a bite of pecan meuniere sauce for best effect.

We watched ice-cream-topped brownies emerge over and over from the kitchen but instead chose apple-cherry crisp ($6) and creme brulee ($6). The former hit a note of heavy sweetness that diverted us from the brownie, but the latter is one of the city's best, with a soft creaminess and deep vanilla flavor.

The Service

Servers' jackets and bow ties set a formal tone that our server smilingly lived up to as he greeted us and suggested dishes. Other details -- serving our second course without collecting the dishes from our first, delivering the check while our dessert dishes were on the table -- fell short.

The Atmosphere

The wide-openness of the room lends a comfortable clamor and sense of celebratory camaraderie; a smart seating plan gives each table privacy without shutting it off from the party. A circular bar anchors the soaring-ceilinged room, which has a lush, throwback feel that's decidedly masculine.

The Price

$116 for two, including tax and tip. Not off-kilter for the experience the restaurant strives to provide, but enough to make me lament the steep falling-off of our server's attention.

Next Time

Maybe an Izzy-style steak -- one dredged in cracked peppercorns and served with orange-brandy-butter sauce. Or the short rib, smoked in-house.

-- By Tracy Cumbay / Star Correspondent