Blenheim

A tremendous amount of thought and effort has gone into Blenheim’s food, drinks and design, but the pieces don’t always fit together. When tables are set up outside next to the cobblestoned streets, Blenheim looks as if its only desire is to be your drop-in-and-hang-out corner tavern. Rustic tools hang from the walls; underlining the point, servers tell you that ingredients have been trucked in from the owners’ in Schoharie County. But the food, as imagined by the chef Ryan Tate, has as much business in a rusticated farm-to-table tavern as white tie and spats. At times, it is thoughtful, transporting and intricate. At other times, the kitchen is obviously struggling to keep up. Meanwhile the service runs the gamut from charming and slightly lost to nonexistent. — PETE WELLS