Better red at stylish Cherry

There's a kind of precarious social feng shui at work inside Cherry. It's approachable despite its cooler-than-thou potential that looms dangerously close. E.g., at any minute you could be elbow-to-elbow with cheesy people wearing lots of black. With all the ingredients to be, on any other day, too cool for its own good -- freshly scrubbed from Pilates wait staff, pointy ornamental tree growing out of the bar -- the chi-chi factor is offset by meat and potatoes on the menu, tender sushi and a good house red.

At the bar, a cluster of businessmen, ties loosened, tried to buy my friend and me shots of rum. But things never teetered over the edge; the businessmen went back to their own conversation. And we started in on our own drinks.

Somewhere, a fashion editor has surely described the ambience as "sexy." Maybe it's the $9 glass of wine talking, but the place looks like what you'd expect if the neighbor you got teamed up with on "Trading Spaces" was a drama queen who got jilted on Valentine's Day. Cherry ... red ... every shade of ... you'll get it. There are probably some sexual implications to explore in the name, but it already looks like a bordello in here, so why poke deeper for subtext?

With the high-backed velvet booths and soft lighting, it could be a romantic place to have dinner with a date. You might say all the red kinda gets you in the mood.

Cherry, 1051 W. Peachtree St. Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner: Sun.-Thurs. 5:30-10:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5:30-11:30 p.m. Bar: Fri.-Sat. until 3 a.m. Liquor (no well brands) starts at $6.25. Cosmopolitans and martinis: $8.50-$9. Beers: imported, $4.25; domestic, $3.75. Wine: by the glass, $7-$9.50; by the bottle, $26-$126. 404-872-2020.