Seared scallops and shaved pan-fried Brussels sprouts.

Waban Kitchen, across from the Green Line’s Waban Station in Newton, and in the intimate space that used to house Mediterranean favorite Kouzina, gets an awful lot right. In addition to knowing the menu, servers don’t ask diners whether they’ve been to the restaurant before. (Really, who cares?) And they haven’t been instructed by focus group-addled corporate managers to introduce themselves to diners, a practice that always seems to embarrass the waiters as much as it does me.