FINALLY, a restaurant that satisfies the Manhattan food snob in us.

As soon as we entered the brand-new Da Vidi we felt we were back home in New York, with modern decor straight out of a Pottery Barn catalogue and a creative menu to match.

We shouldn't have expected anything less, considering that Da Vidi is the sister restaurant of Dani's, the chic cafe/sandwich shop near Slaveikov Square that fast became one of our favourites. Like Dani's, Da Vidi can be counted on for fresh ingredients and a fresh approach to food.

Our ragtag party of seven probably didn't look very hip sitting at the long centre table, oohing and aahing at the surroundings. Everything's done out in cool black and beige, the kind of place where you find yourself debating: "Is this an ashtray, or is it art?"

Our fluently English-speaking waiter quickly talked us into the soup of the day, a very sweet cream of carrot. Although hot enough to burn a tongue, it makes a good accompaniment for either the large avocado or the broccoli salad. The latter has a welcome sprinkling of sunflower seeds, and both come with a good cushion of lettuce, mushrooms, pesto croutons and a honey-mustard vinaigrette.

For entrees, you have your pick of everything from Stroganoff to trout in red pepper sauce. Our own eyes quickly zeroed in on the juicy beef tenderloin burger with an even juicier price tag. Though it was a whopping 16 leva, it was about half a kilo of cow! Just don't be too shy to cancel the fried egg that it normally comes with (too weird, man), and don't complain when you see that the burger's got a bottom bun but no lid (this is haute cuisine, meathead). But do order it with a side of grilled pesto potato wedges, a nice change from those artery-clogging daggers that pass for Bulgarian French fries.

We also have to love a place that dubs its desserts with mysterious pseudonyms - like Symphony, for a platter of chocolates. We requested the Hot and Cold Chocolate and crossed our fingers. It turned out to be a warm slab of brownie-like cake with ice cream, and only the cashew-vanilla custard on the side seemed unworthy of the calories.

Like the helpful folks at Dani's, Da Vidi has the sort of staff that helps women into their coats, even if they're just girls in ratty jeans and a sweatshirt. Though there were actually a couple of slip-ups with the service, we'll give them a break. When the waiter forgot our friend's order of beef in Porto sauce until much too late, for example, it was no big deal. They just ran down the street to grab a sandwich from Dani's.