The adjacent Tasting Room, with which Fred’s paired so harmoniously, is still under renovation and not scheduled to reopen until this summer, but a little bit of its former space hosts comfy club chairs just right for small talk over cocktails. That comfort extends to the new, more generously sized and cushioned sidewalk seating, which is a big improvement over the old bare cafe chairs and small tables. Those were stylish but not conducive to unhurried dining.

Inside, much remains of Fred’s signature design style, including the black-and-white tiled barroom floor asserted by red cursive capital F’s and those fanciful blown-glass light fixtures, not to mention the handsome bar itself. The overall feeling, however, is lighter, more contemporary. This is especially true in the north dining room, where banquette fabrics have been updated in bold swoops and swirls of black and white. When the Tasting Room reopens, it will feature an enlarged, L-shaped bar and private dining room.

While interior design has taken a turn for the new, the menu has become both more traditional and more streamlined. A list once known for nearly encyclopedic breadth has slimmed down to one that would be at home in any top-of-the-line steakhouse. This is not a complaint. Colette and I missed the old all-over-the-map approach for a moment, but only until chef Scott Kuhling’s kitchen began sending perfectly executed, unfailingly savory fare to our sidewalk table.

Service, which always has been excellent at Fred’s, hasn’t lost a step in the transition to a new menu and new owners. One thing that has changed, however, is Fred’s hours. Lunch is a thing of the past, unlikely to return. Now, the bar opens for happy hour at 3 p.m. and dinner service begins at 5 p.m. every evening.

I started a recent dinner under the new regime with an order of Buddha Rolls ($5.95), cool rice-paper-wrapped fresh rolls stuffed with crisp julienned veggies and served with a just-right dipping sauce compounded of cilantro, ginger and lime juice. On a warm summer evening, these will be just the ticket. Colette opted for the Fungi Absolute ($8.95), a beautifully constructed salad of fresh spinach generously topped with sliced portabella and oyster mushrooms and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Hearty warm bread came along for the ride.

We accompanied our appetizers with a bit of bubbly (Gloria Ferrer’s delightfully subtle Blanc de Noirs at $8.95 a glass) and called for a Hahn Estates blend of silky Monterey reds ($38.95) to stand up to the serious meat to come.

The menu features both fresh fish, with special emphasis on Florida grouper and wild-harvested Gulf shrimp, and fowl like Cornish game hen (lightly smoked, roasted, mandarin orange glaze); but the chef’s heart belongs to steak, lamb and ribs. And potatoes, the substantial au gratin variety, nicely spiked here with horseradish. These are our pick, but there are other potato options and rice pilaf, too.

Colette practically inhaled a generous portion of the perfectly slow-roasted, fall-off-the-bone baby back pork ribs in a yummy lemongrass barbecue sauce ($24.95), while I plumped for the more than ample 14-ounce New York strip ($29.95). This gorgeous steak arrived at a just-as-ordered medium rare under a flawless crust. Both dishes were mouth-wateringly good, and both were nicely complemented by those au gratin potatoes.

Since steak is the thing at the new Fred’s, let’s survey the other choices, all of which are more modestly portioned than the strip. An 8-ounce top sirloin comes simply grilled (always a good choice for the devoted carnivore), or marinated in teriyaki sauce before firing, or paired with a lobster tail. Grilled tenderloin comes in a 9-ounce filet mignon version, wrapped with bacon and Bearnaise sauced, or in a 7-ounce version wrapped in bacon and topped with crumbled blue cheese.

If meat and potatoes are not quite enough, several additional sides are available, most notably grilled asparagus in herb butter, sautéed mushrooms in a port reduction, and snow peas spiced up with a Szechuan-style sauce.

And then, if you’re not foundered, there’s dessert to consider, which I always do in the name of science. In this case Colette and I shared a chocolate lava cake, which has become a staple of sweets lists all over town. Everybody and his aunt offers it, but if it isn’t done just right it comes out more gooey than molten. Fred’s does it just right.