IT'S difficult to reserve a table at Restaurant X for a Saturday night, and for obvious reasons. The food is often wonderful, and the warren of dining rooms, including a beautiful bar where you can order anything from a spoonful of caviar to a root beer float, is flawlessly designed. The profusion of fresh flowers alone is worth the extra phone call it takes to secure a table.
Not surprisingly, Restaurant X is the brainchild of Peter Xaviar Kelly, the Wunderkind who opened Xaviar's in Garrison, N.Y., when he was 23, followed by Xaviar's and Freelance in Piermont, N.Y. The good news for Xaviar fans is that Restaurant X combines the high level of cooking at Mr. Kelly's more formal restaurants with the fun and whimsy of Freelance, his less formal cafe. In addition, Congers, in Rockland County, is only 15 minutes from North Jersey and a convenient stop between vacation spots like the Berkshires and the rest of the Garden State.
Devotees of Bully Boy, the 38-year-old chophouse that formerly occupied the premises, would never recognize their old haunt, which Mr. Kelly has lightened with skylights. Notice the flowering jade plant in the rock garden at the entrance; isn't it exquisite? In winter, I couldn't imagine a more pleasant scene: a table by the fireplace in the bar, a glass of cabernet from Mr. Kelly's renowned cellar and a bowl of wild mushroom dumplings to soothe me.
In addition to cabernet, the wine list features a large variety of Old and New World selections. At the high end, from France, the Puligny-Montrachet ''Combettes'' (1994) is fairly priced at $138; the more affordable Ponzi Pinot Gris from Oregon (1996) is $25 and also excellent. Given the volume of Mr. Kelly's business -- his cellar at Xaviar's in Piermont stores 800 bottles -- even his higher-priced reserve list offers bargains.
If the style of cooking at Xaviar's is classical and pristine, at Restaurant X, the menu is more playful. For example, it lets you fashion your own appetizer from a selection of shrimp, clams, crab claws and oysters, like Kumumoto, Malpeque, Belon and exceptionally meaty Flower oysters, all ice-cold and prettily perched on seaweed.
The cooked appetizers also feature interesting choices. Regulars love Mr. Kelly's coconut-crusted shrimp and the Dijon mustard sauce around them, but I find other appetizers more intriguing. The napoleon of smoked chicken and portobello mushrooms, for example, is a mushroom-lover's dream, layers of glossy spinach, smoked chicken, and portobello and morels (or whatever mushrooms are in season), misted with a balsamic vinegar reduction harboring bits of creamy foie gras.
The braised rabbit is equally lush, a hearty stew that even those who do not eat rabbit should sample. Crunchy peas, silky oyster mushrooms and egg noodles surround rabbit that melts on your tongue like butter. The lobster flan is a cloud of sweet lobster; the mushroom dumplings are appealingly light yet intense, thanks to the earthy mushrooms.
Not every appetizer hits these same high notes. The duck roulade features luxury items, like sun-dried cherries and port, but the sauce tastes too peppery, and the meat isn't tender. The wild watercress salad sounds exciting, but the greens themselves are dull, while no Caesar salad ought to be encumbered with such sweet dressing.
Entrees also zigag from grand to unexciting. Murray's chicken, named for the farmer from Hillsdale, N.Y., who lovingly tends Mr. Kelly's chickens, is a work of art. These succulent birds set a new standard even among free-range chickens. The dish, accompanied by pencil asparagus and creamy wild mushroom risotto, is the ultimate Sunday supper.
Mr. Kelly's Pacific ahi tuna is also terrific, rare and grand on an ebullient salad of seaweed dressed with sesame oil. His halibut glistens, and isn't it nice that he substitutes it for swordfish, in deference to the international call to allow the swordfish supply to be replenished?
If only his salmon were as flavorful. Its shallot-and-bacon topping is, but the fish itself is dull, which is also the problem with the soft-shell crabs, two nice-sized crabs that are insufficiently moist and crunchy. The crisp roast duck, on the other hand, is beautifully seasoned with herbs like coriander and cumin, and the couscous beneath it is a treasure chest of shimmering nuts, raisins and cherries. The beef Wellington is also fine, but the pastry around it is soggy, an almost-fatal problem.
For dessert, the strawberry martini is the rare alcohol-free version that packs a wallop; the wild strawberry sorbet inside it is strawberry nirvana. The coconut parfait, layered with pineapple and mango, is anoter grown-up summer pleasure. Before either, Mr. Kelly offers lavish teas, like Earl Grey with blue flowers, from the T Salon in New York City, accompanied by homemade scones served warm with a pitcher of honey.
The procession ends with tiny lemon meringue tarts or, if the pastry chef is in the mood, wonderful dark chocolate truffles. When all the dishes are consistent, the wait for a table on Saturday will probably reach into the millennium.
ATMOSPHERE A month in the country.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Fresh oysters; napoleon of smoked chicken and portobello mushrooms; wild mushroom dumplings; braised rabbit; roast duck with North African spices; Murray's chicken; Pacific ahi tuna; strawberry martini; coconut parfait; tea with scones and honey.
PRICE RANGE Lunch: appetizers: $4.50 to $7.50; entrees, $10.50 to $16; three-course prix-fixe lunch, $19.98. Dinner: appetizers, $5 to $9.50; entrees, $17 to $24. Desserts, $6.
HOURS Lunch: Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 2:30 P.M. Dinner: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 5:30 to 10 P.M. Sundays, 2 to 9 p.m.
RESERVATIONS Required except at bar.