We really want to love Navarre, given the concept: small plates of local ingredients, a chef-driven menu, and a “just leave it to us” option (which we always prefer). It’s small yet airy inside, with an open kitchen and a rustic shabbiness—a good place for a casual date, especially outside on the sidewalk’s tiny wrought-iron tables.

The problem is, although atmosphere is fun, the staff is standoffish and inattentive. Trying to order a second round of drinks or a dessert wine is like trying to get an autograph from a famous person—like they’re doing you a huge favor. Worse still, you can often expect long waits.

There is obvious humility and care in this food. It’s commonly held in kitchens that most of the work of cooking is done in the fields and at the market; the rest is just staying out of the way. This creed is exemplified in a dish of farm-fresh radishes whose prickly flavor is rendered gentle by French butter. New potatoes cooked with vinegar, white wine, and spices are a fascinating pleasure, too. But “staying out of the way” can be taken a bit too literally here. On one visit, a kohlrabi salad with feta and blueberry was made up of components whose sum was worse than its parts.

Meats are regularly overcooked here, whether halibut or chicken (in the latter case, it has been to the point of being inedible). Or it’s just not a good cut, as a rare-plus lamb loin that was too sinewy and chewy to be enjoyable, despite the great fennel with which it was paired. Desserts are a must here, like a delicious cornbread-like peach-bottom cake with apricot, and, when in season, a precious cherry pie with homemade whipped cream.

The succinct, focused wine list matches the unfussy food here beautifully. Almost none of it is New World, there are no knee-jerk choices here, and all wines are priced low. But with more than 50 by-the-glass selections, it’s almost a given that some bottles will have been open too long. (In most cases, a huge glass selection is a detriment, not a bragging right.)

Given the iffy food and the snobbish service, we hesitate to recommend Navarre wholeheartedly. Still, we know heart when we see it, and we’ve got to say: cheers to that.