Forty-Two Degrees North

The views are striking through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor of the Ren Cen (though I would give a lot to expunge Caesars from the Windsor skyline). Outdoor seating exists, and that might forgive almost any other flaws, but we were driven inside by the wind, and our server told us the terrace was always too gusty to enjoy. A restaurant has to be pretty spectacular to warrant charging $28 for meatloaf and $36 for rib-eye. Some dishes deserve to be praised to the skies, such as the crab cakes ($12), so scrumptious and elegantly dressed that two felt like plenty. It was on the entrées that Forty-Two Degrees North fell down. Perhaps we simply chose the wrong dishes or went on the wrong night, but the butternut squash ravioli came with a one-note cider sauce and some still-dried apple slices, a huge, chewy prime rib was singularly lacking in flavor, and chicken Marsala was just as disappointing, with a sauce that wouldn’t have been out of place in a school cafeteria. At lunchtime, Forty-Two Degrees North offers a $12 buffet. Wednesday is Italian; Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are Southern; and Monday circles the Mediterranean. The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday.