This week Gretchen Kurtz reviewed the Village Cork, which has evolved a great deal from when it first opened on Old South Pearl fourteen years ago. Last summer Lisa Lapp closed her place in order to do a major renovation, one that expanded the kitchen and added a chef's counter, but kept the comfortable, casual charm of this neighborhood institution. But while she liked the physical improvements, she had some problems with the food — particularly the prices, which rose close to fine-dining levels for some entrees. Why not emphasize small plates with smaller prices, she wondered. But theFabulousMarkT has an answer to that:

To me, small plates have become rather trite and overplayed, like an old Bee Gees record that has seen one too many lines of you-know-what snorted off of it [not that I would know of course, ahem].

So I have to applaud Village Cork for their restraint on this one, especially if they truly are making an effort to distinguish themselves from the culinary masses.

Have you been back to The Village Cork since its renovation? What did you think of the new menu? And what do you think of small plates in general?

• Word of Mouth