Stuffed Veal Chop: Pancetta, spinach & mascarpone stuffing, rutabaga fondant & white bean puree. Classic Caesar Salad: Shaved Asiago, anchovies & garlic croutons.

(photo: Rose Mattrey)

When it comes to rationalizing major purchases, I often use a yardstick that looks at the price paid as an investment over time. For example, that new $400 suit, if worn 50 times, costs only $8 per wearing. And those $2,000 drapes, if they dress up your windows for 10 years, had an “annual cost” of only $200.

My system, however, is no help when it comes to the cost of one-time experiences, such as dinner at a restaurant. Even if you have leftovers for the next day’s lunch, it’s a one-time expense. Whether it was worth the expense can only be judged based on the food, the service and the total dining experience. And as the price of a meal climbs higher, there’s less wiggle room for mistakes.

We found ourselves discussing the increasing cost of a fine-dining experience a week ago when we visited Prime 490 at 490 Rhode Island Street in Buffalo. We knew ahead of time that this five-month-old restaurant is pricey, but still were surprised by a couple of entrees in the $60 range and sides ringing up at $11 and $12 each.

Such prices will eliminate Prime 490 as a destination for many. For those who would consider a visit, I can say that based on our dining experience, you will have no regrets as long as you are aware of the pricing. The food and service are excellent. The a la carte menu is creative, the quality of ingredients is high and the presentation gets an A-plus.

Prime 490 is the steakhouse that opened at the site of the former Roseland Restaurant, one of Buffalo’s most venerable restaurants and my all-time favorite Buffalo dining spot.

While I had some trepidation about visiting a restaurant that “replaced” my favorite, it disappeared as soon as I entered the front door and saw that the place has been transformed. Roseland had disappeared, magically. In its place is a sophisticated space with pastel walls, dark paneling, hardwood floors and a very inviting outdoor eating space. The restaurant’s most impressive feature is the glass panel holding wine bottles that stretches to the ceiling and separates the bar from the dining room.

Jennifer Mogensen and Christian DiFiglia, who also is an owner of Cozumel Grill & Tequila Bar, opened Prime 490 last year two days after Christmas. Working wonders in the kitchen are executive chef Christopher Scrivano, previously with L’Escalier at The Breakers in Palm Beach, and sous chef Joseph Chambers.

Deciding what to order was not easy; Prime 490’s menu is extensive and contains many unusual items. If you visit during the week, there’s also a four-course tasting menu to consider at $45 per person. Add an additional $20 and you will receive a glass of wine paired with each of your four selections, which are smaller servings than on the regular menu.

While we enjoyed slices of delicious olive bread dripped in oil infused with rosemary and thyme, the guest declared that he would have what he called a “classic steakhouse experience” and began his meal with the daily oyster selection, which included three raw oysters each from the east and west coasts ($14). Three were seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt and three with pepper. Seasoning aside, the two varieties had distinctly different flavors.

I relied on Charlie, one of our two servers, to help me choose my opener—butternut squash and gorgonzola tortellini ($9). The serving consisted of three tortellini served in a browned butter-and-sage sauce with currants. The flavors were subtle, sophisticated. It was a great beginning for me.

Other appetizers on the menu include a tomato tart made with puff pastry and topped with braised fennel and herbed goat cheese served with a balsamic reduction ($10) and a smoked salmon parfait served with crème fraiche, caviar and candied orange zest and garnished with a chive sprig ($8). The only evening special, at $12, was an appetizer consisting of pan-seared duck breast served with Gorgonzola cheese, raspberry pasta and pomegranate syrup ($12). Curried butternut squash soup served with Kobe beef dumplings and micro greens ($8) also is on the menu.

Salad selection also was a challenge; there were more than one that I would have liked to have tasted, including the baby beet salad with baby spinach and shallot sabayon sauce ($12) and the seasonal salad, at $10, featuring mesclun greens, zucchini, toasted pumpkin seeds, sweet-and-sour shallots and roasted tomato dressed with walnut vinaigrette.

My Prime 490 Salad ($9) was excellent, consisting of iceberg lettuce—both a wedge and separate serving of shredded lettuce—served with applewood smoked bacon and a creamy Maytag Blue Cheese dressing.

The guest’s classic Caesar salad ($9) also was excellent—its presentation was one of the most impressive I have ever seen. Long leaves of romaine lettuce had been dressed in a tangy dressing and then arranged in a bunch secured by a garlic crouton so that they looked like they had just been harvested. Shaved Asiago cheese and three anchovies were part of the dramatic presentation.

The guest described his dinner selection, a 10-ounce filet mignon ($35) served rare as ordered, as “incredibly tender.” My entrée, a veal chop stuffed with pancetta, spinach and mascarpone cheese served with a rutabaga fondant and white bean puree ($36), was excellent and presented beautifully.

From the list of sides, I selected a delicious combination of pineapple braised cabbage ($6)—a unique take on sweet-and-sour cabbage. The guest was very pleased with his mushroom roulade—a combination of mushrooms baked in puff pastry and then sliced and served with grilled thin asparagus spears ($9). Also available as sides are a potato Parmesan pave ($11), risotto of the day ($12), bacon and leek dumplings ($9), Swiss chard with dried cherries ($6) and a trio of purees—rutabaga, celeriac and truffle parsnip—at $9.

Featured entrees include a 14-ounce New York strip steak ($32), 20-ounce bone-in ribeye steak ($37), New Zealand rack of lamb ($29), an eight-ounce filet of American Kobe beef ($59) and Atlantic salmon ($21). There also is a 1 1⁄2-pound whole Maine lobster at $42. And for those with a magnum appetite, a surf-turf-combo of 14-ounce New York strip steak and the whole Maine lobster at $65. Grilled pork tenderloin is served with a savory bread pudding, braised vegetables and chestnut-honey demi glace ($26) and there is a vegetarian grilled tofu served with sautéed vegetables and finished with a spicy soy-peanut sauce at $16.

Dessert proved to be spectacular ending to an excellent meal. The guest opted for chilled mango soup presented nicely in a martini glass with a sprig of fresh mint ($7). The dessert was made with spicy curried vanilla oil that was a perfect foil for the sweet pureed mango. Admittedly no fan of sushi, I couldn’t resist the chocolate “sushi” ($7), which consisted of heavenly chocolate ganache rolled in lots of fresh grated coconut and then finished with a layer of toasted coconut. It was wonderful.