Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

Nix’s Mate, in the Financial District Hilton, is more than just a hotel restaurant catering to weary conference drones. It has a serious chef, David Nevins, who has shown his talent previously at Neptune Oyster, Olives and other Todd English restaurants, and his own Osetra in Connecticut.

Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

Named for one of the Harbor Islands, Nix's Mate is unusually pretty for a hotel restaurant. Reclaimed wood makes it both warm and airy, and the space is attractively lit, a twinkling Capiz shell chandelier visible through the doors of a private dining room.

Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

Fried Maine lobster caramel is both strange and strangely compelling. Nuggets of tail and claw meat swim in a caramel sauce, augmented with cheddar cheese, green onions, and chilies. There is no way this dish should work. Yet, somehow, the flavors swirl into a cosmic weirdness that seems inspired equally by Vietnam, New England, and the kingdom of Bong-landia.

Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

This appetizer is a modern salute to good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod. It features golden cakes of salt cod, that staple of colonists and the area's Portuguese community, alongside baked beans smoky with pieces of pork rib.

Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

Seared loup de mer brings the diner to New Orleans. The generous sea bass fillet offers crisp skin and moist flesh, served over rice flavored with crab, with grilled frisee and crab aioli. A tart relish of yellow tomatoes brings the dish together, a piquant note to set off the savory.

Brian Feulner for the Boston Globe

Nevins riffs on the traditional Italian dish of chilled veal and creamy tuna sauce: lamb tonnato. He grills a thick loin chop, complementing the smoky, charred meat with mild, creamy tuna sauce. The chop is served over shaved asparagus with roasted potatoes and red grapes.