Negatif Restaurant Grill

Shortcomings in atmosphere can be overlooked if the food is solid. And, on recent visits, Negatif demonstrated it knows how to treat a piece of meat right.

The entrecote steak, ordered medium-rare, was perfectly cooked, with a beautiful, well-seasoned brown crust and a nice, pink center. It made for an attractive dish, presented over a generous pile of green beans ordered as a side. At casual grill houses like this one, vegetables often get no love. Overcooked, undercooked, flavorless or, at worst, frozen, they tend to get slopped on a plate with the belief that bloodthirsty carnivores won’t notice the difference. But here the humble green bean is given the attention it deserves. Cooked with onion and bacon, the beans were worthy of sharing a plate with the beef — they were tender, delicious and, again, perfectly seasoned. (The one minor flaw with this dish was a dry, mealy corn- cob stub, perched at the edge of the plate. It remained there, barely touched.)

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