The red snapper, for instance, with the texture of the flesh emphasized by its crisp wrapping of edible rice paper, the flavor enhanced by a red curried carrot sauce.

Drain pasta and top with carrot sauce.

"I'll just have brown rice, lentils, a sweet potato and some carrot sauce," says an elegant man wearing a pin-stripe suit and carrying a briefcase.

But crab agnolotti in carrot sauce are simply sweet and strange.

Recent entrées have included emu in plum sauce ($13.95) and black cod wrapped in Chinese cabbage with carrot sauce ($13.95).

Pan-roasted salmon ($17) was deliciously crisp on one side, served on a bed of barley in a slightly sweet carrot sauce.

The beautifully cooked roast salmon in a gingered carrot sauce set over a cranberry-pignoli couscous is a case in point.

At Aquagrill in SoHo, the huge shrimp arrive in a tender embrace over earthy cranberry beans and a sweet carrot sauce.

"It's carrot sauce," he reminds me.

Reheat the carrot sauce, season with salt and cayenne pepper, pour it over the shrimp and serve.