is the new Italian fine dining restaurant in Courtyard 4, next to The Local. They've assumed the space of an old vegetarian restaurant, and spent the better part of last year renovating it into this: That's the bottom floor. They second floor is more louge-y seating and their private dining room. So the food genre is Italian fine dining, albeit of the "fusion" variety. Speaking to the Italian side of things, Park 17 has secured the services of a head chef that spent time with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the three Michelin Star-anointed, New York-based celebrity chef of acclaim, riches, and best selling cookbook fame. If you're unfamiliar with him, Jean-Georges, who originally established himself first as an international voice in contemporary French cuisine, was one of the first name-brand chefs to roll the dice on Shanghai fine dining back in the day. He opened his eponymous restaurant, Jean-Georges, a hundred million gillion years ago back in 2004, and it's still there today, a beacon of Shanghai-style fine dining (read: French) in one of the most famous buildings on The Bund. Since then, Jean-Georges has opened another Shanghai restaurant, Mercato, which is classic, home-style Italian food at a sort of mid (for Shanghai) price range. It's popular. Very popular. It casts a big net to the simpatico elements of Western and Chinese tastes, while price-wise is both middle class affordable and lux enough to keep rich folk feeling important. Park 17 is channeling Jean-George's take on Italian, Mercato, to a Beijing baller dining audience. The proprietors, even through this is their first stab at Italian fine dining, are coming from high-end hospitality background -- they own Prince Kung's Mansion, a member's club in a lavish siheyuan courtyard. So that's how this puzzle comes together: baller Beijing, inspired by Jean-Georges' Italian, gambling on this direction for a restaurant in Beijing. The Food: The menu is half a la carte -- apps, soups, pastas, pizzas, mains, desserts -- and half set meals (singles and sharing), which swing you through a number of courses for a set fee. It starts at 588rmb and climbs up through 788rmb, 800rmb, to 2000rmb. They're building up to it, but their goal is to offer 17 different variations of set meals. (Hence the name.) We just bashed around the a la carte. Eff it. Behold! Salmon Tartare with Horseradish and Herbs Garlic Crostini (128rmb) Yup. Straightforward. Nice, bright, fresh flavors. Simple and welcome way to start a meal. Raw flesh. Gnarrrr. House-made Ricotta with Strawberry Jam, Olive Oil, and Garlic Bread (78rmb) This is a dish direct from the Mercato menu. What can I say, it's made the trip well. Creamy, creamy home-made ricotta matched up with Grandma-style sticky icky strawberry jam. Really goopy. Thumbs up. Wood-oven Roasted Asparagus, Fontina, and Prosciutto (88rmb) Another standard. Delicious and fresh asparagus and salty prosciutto. Spaghetti with Basil-Pistacio Pesto, Green Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, and Parmesan (118rmb) Something from the pastas menu. With the beans and cherry tomatoes, it was like half salad and half a pasta dish. Good vegetarian option though. The Basil-Pistacio Pesto treatment was pretty boss. Spicy Salami, Brocolinni, and house-made Ricotta (128rmb) Something from the pizzas. Just so-so. Which is a bit of a disappointment, as the pizza at Mercato is up there with the best in Shanghai. Crust was a bit gummy or something. Should have stuck around in the ole wood over longer maybe. Crispy Beef Shortrib, Grilled Broccolonini and Smoked Chili-Chianti Glaze <328) You can't really tell from the picture but that's one massive cut of beef. Yeah, it was great. Melt-in-your-mouth tender Australian beef with a tart chili glaze. These are "broccoloninis". Never seen them before. Apparently the result of some Japanese ingenuity, it's an asparagus / broccoli hybrid. They're righteous. You heard it here first, kids, 2015 is the year of the broccolini. The Take Away: Food's decent, service is really excellent, environment is comfortable enough, but Park 17 is still definitely a work in progress, while they tilt towards being able to deal with this massive menu. It's still a bit rough around the edges. Their wine list, for instance, is really lacking, which is pretty strange for a restaurant like this. Drinks list is also a bit underwhelming. Pretty much just a few standard cocktails. There's some stiff competition from the Nali Patio Mediterranean options, not to mention, this guy, but it's nice to have something new in this genre in town. They're going in a good direction. Nice to see people taking chances to class up this dingy, godforsaken proletarian slab of suckhole-desert, right? *** Park 17 in Courtyard 4, Gongti Beilu. It's right next to The Local.