Try this upscale eatery The Uptown Chef tries downtown spot for new lunch time restaurant By The Go! Mystery Reviewer The Uptown Chef (or Molly's, as we've heard some call it, after its owner) is most convenient for those already downtown and on foot, since there's little parking closer than the library lot or the garage. But it's not a bad walk, and the library lot is free. It's fun to stroll along Division Street and watch for faces you know -- here a lawyer, there the mayor. Inside The Uptown Chef, the atmosphere is inviting, with 11 tables for two or four set around a room with grooved, cream-colored wooden walls. (There's seating outdoors, too, though it may be some months before any of us are interested in asking for that option.) The decor is upscale chef, with a checkerboard pattern chef border complemented around the room with black and gold table linens. Light jazz plays softly in the background. Every table has its own pepper mill and matching salt shaker, a nice touch. In one of this location's previous incarnations, food preparation was done in a tiny back room with minimal equipment. Now Chef Taylor, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, has transformed a corner of the dining room from a mere service and setup area to a working, open kitchen. You'll know your food is coming fresh and hot from the kitchen because you'll see it being made. Have you ever been to one of those chain restaurants whose menu is so thick that you practically lose your appetite trying to page through all the choices? That's not an issue at The Uptown Chef, whose brief yet ample menu fits on one side of a legal-size sheet of paper. Diners select from one of five categories: sandwich, panini (a grilled, pressed sandwich), wraps, salads and pizzas. Oh, and each day, in addition to a sandwich special, there's a soup for $3.50. The chicken noodle soup we get is hearty and warming, a large portion with chunks of both light and dark meat, noodles that look and taste homemade, and a thick, peppery broth. We opt for a Rustic French Dip Panini ($7.99), with medium-rare roast beef, provolone, and glazed red onions and mushrooms inside two thick, hearty pieces of grilled bread, with au jus on the side. The roast beef is tender and flavorful and the au jus is savory without being too salty, a perfect complement. We've had crab cakes many ways on the Shore, but never on a salad, so we bravely order the Crab Cake Caesar ($9.99), a 5-ounce jumbo lump crab cake perched atop a small Caesar salad. The crab cake comes out thick and hot, with subtle seasonings. The parmesan is freshly shaved and the lettuce is bright and crisp. All of it is served in a crunchy lavash shell. Both the salad and the lavash are unusual platforms for a crab cake, but as all parts of the dish are done well, we think it works. We've heard good things, too about The Uptown Chef's Oriental Chicken, available both as a wrap and a salad for $7.99. Sesame chicken is served with Mandarin oranges and baby spinach. The Uptown Chef makes the decision of whether to have dessert after lunch an easy one: The day we visit, the only option is a warm brownie sundae with vanilla ice cream. The brownie is warm, moist and chocolatey and entirely satisfying, and with the dessert split between two people, it's almost guilt free. (Hey, we can claim to be working off the calories by walking back to our car, right?) At The Uptown Chef, even the drinks are done well: trendy pomegranate iced tea is mildly fruity and good without any sugar or sweetener. The coffee is fresh and strong. Here's hoping The Uptown Chef will continue offering a unique, upscale lunch experience downtown for a long time to come.