Restaurant Review : A New Winner Downtown : Pacifica Grill Offers an Eclectic, Tasty Menu

Downtown San Diego’s ongoing rejuvenation is apparent to anyone who walks its streets or catches even a distant glimpse of its sprouting skyline. The area’s importance can only increase this year, what with the opening of Horton Plaza and the luxurious Meridian tower condominiums and the resurrection of the venerable U. S. Grant Hotel. Accompanying this redevelopment has been a renewal of downtown San Diego’s culinary landscape.

The Pacifica Grill (a cosmopolitan sibling of Old Town’s Cafe Pacifica) epitomizes the charm of San Diego’s urban renewal. As the ground-floor occupant of McClintock Plaza, a tastefully remodeled structure on Kettner Boulevard that for most of its 72 years served as a moving company’s storage building, Pacifica Grill cleverly has showcased its contemporary approach to cooking in a most attractive package. The pale colorings, mirrors and brass accents are very now, and the high ceilings and vast approaches to the dining room give a sense of spaciousness to an area that seems nonetheless intimate, and lively even when only partly full.

Just as San Diego has begun to look inward upon itself, many of America’s finest chefs have begun to re-examine the heart of our national cuisine. In the same way that old urban centers and the aging buildings they contain are being resuscitated, many of America’s old recipes are being revived by a corps of young, home-grown chefs who just may succeed in restoring pot roast to a place of eminence on the national table.

Pacifica Grill’s menu, which is printed daily so that the kitchen may take advantage of the opportunities of the marketplace, by no means limits itself to American cuisine. It could, in fact, truly be called eclectic, as it combines old and new while drawing some preparations from an international repertoire. But American regional specialties abound, including such treats as griddle-crisped crab cakes, blackened rockfish, gumbo and corn fritters.

American Soups and Salads

The soups and salads are as American as Hush Puppies. The gumbo, for example, combines the flavors of backcountry Louisiana in a dark, exotic broth that is as murky as a forgotten bayou and as jubilant as a Canal Street parade.

Gumbo at Pacifica Grill does not necessarily mean seafood gumbo; just as in a Creole kitchen, it contains whatever meats the cook may care to add (one excellent version here includes duck and spicy sausage), seasoned with aromatics and hot pepper sauce. The soup list continues with such regional favorites as New England clam chowder, and chili served with corn muffins.

The salad list extends from such simple combinations as onion with beefsteak tomato to Chinese chicken salad. Garlic lovers, however, will skip these in favor of the house salad, a pleasant jumble of fresh greenery that soars to new heights when doused with the seductive, richly garlicked house dressing.

Another good starter choice is the plate of home-smoked fish, which recently included chunks of Norwegian salmon and yellowtail tuna that had been so gently smoked that they responded to the tongue like butter.

Vastly less agreeable is the carpaccio, or sliced raw steak; this can be likable when it has been pounded to a fine thinness, a procedure that this kitchen skipped. Carpaccio, by the way, seems out of place here, and it is reasonable to conjecture that Pacifica Grill included it on the menu simply because most of the newer and trendier restaurants feature it.

The entree list accommodates a range of tastes by offering everything from a hefty hamburger (served on a homemade bun flavored with onion, dill and rosemary) to smoked, marinated duck; smoked, barbecued pork loin, and a pasta of the day. The list also offers a good range of fish, a steak or two and a stuffed chicken breast. Garnishes vary somewhat from plate to plate, but often include fine renditions of such American staples as french fries, cole slaw and baked beans (three kinds of beans, baked in a barbecue-scented sauce).

Among this restaurant’s triumphs are the blackened rockfish and crab cakes, pancake-sized amalgamations of snow crab that have been dipped in buttermilk and crumbs, then griddle-fried to a delicious crispness. These cakes have nothing in common with the Maryland variety, but they are excellent.

The rockfish, which is the rage of American-style restaurants from coast to coast, originated in the Louisiana kitchen of Cajun cook Paul Prudhomme. Its unusual color derives from the fish’s brief encounter with burning-hot butter, a heat that is reiterated in its exceptionally spicy flavor. A surprisingly hot (and wonderful) tartar sauce gives this fish added moistness.

State-of-the-Art Liver

The flavor of the above two dishes is at least equaled by that of the grilled liver in shallot and Zinfandel wine sauce. This could be called state-of-the-art liver, as the meat is cooked so beautifully and the thin, simple sauce endows it with so savory a flavor.

Pacifica Grill fails on occasion, especially, it seems, when it veers too far from the honest, uncomplicated style of cooking at which it excels. One example is the green peppercorn sauce that accompanied a slab of perfectly grilled swordfish; the guest who ordered this was grateful that she requested the sauce on the side, as it seemed to be composed mostly of clam juice accented with a touch of honey. The fishy-sweet flavor was nothing short of bizarre.

Another dish that failed was a pasta creation that combined white and black (colored and flavored by squid ink) noodles with scallops in a cream sauce tinged with curry mayonnaise. There were too many non-complementary flavors, and they fought a battle royal from which not one emerged victorious. The thought of adding mayonnaise to a hot sauce is distressing in any case, and it certainly was out of place here.

This restaurant prepares several fine desserts, of which the best may be the creme brulee, or custard topped with a glass-like coverlet of caramelized brown sugar. The chocolate-dipped strawberries are sweet and to the point.

Numerous California wines (including some exceptional bottles) are offered by the glass, and the list in general is extensive and pleasing.

Pacifica Grill, because of the wide range of choices presented by the menu, resists being relegated to any specific price category. A couple who have hamburgers and a glass of wine each could expect to receive change from a $20 bill; a couple who treat themselves to an appetizer, main course, shared dessert and average bottle of wine could spend as much as $60.

Pacifica Grill

1202 Kettner Blvd.

696-9226

Hours: Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.