BlackSalt

You know you’re in a prime spot for fishing the moment you spy the retail display that fronts one of the few reasons to eat in the Palisades. A sniff of the ocean-y air and perusal of the clear-eyed ingredients — arranged on ice as if jewels on velvet — instill confidence in those who have come here to enjoy the work of new chef Mike Huff rather than to cook their own lunch, brunch or dinner. Past a wall painted with a school of fish is a silvery bar and a dining room done in sepia tones and frosted glass. The setting could use some freshening up, but there’s no denying the pristine appeal of the oysters on the half shell or the simple beauty of a bowl of smoky clam chowder, crowded with tender clams in their shells as well as fried clams as a topper. Cornmeal-crisped tilapia with stripes of chili crema and biting slaw make for rib-sticking tacos; golden skate wing with pillows of gnocchi and English peas reveal the kitchen’s more refined side. Off notes make for restrained applause. An otherwise delicious oyster po’ boy would be better with more of the namesake filling, and salmon on white beans needs more of its advertised preserved lemon to cut through the entree’s uber-buttery sauce. But BlackSalt scores points with gratis, minty fresh fruit and $6 glasses of wine at brunch and service with not just a smile, but with flair. A parting glance at the treasures on ice — among them live scallops, wild monkfish and soft shell crabs — makes me wish Huff made house calls.