A CHANGING OF GUARD, BUT NOT THE STANDARDS

I hear Orange County ask: What about Morell’s? What has happened to that showcase restaurant in the Irvine Hilton and Towers with the name that sounds like an imported mushroom since famed chef Michael Watren ran off to open a new restaurant four months ago? Well, maybe I paraphrase, but this is what I imagine I hear.

It’s a question worth answering, since Morell’s under Watren was one of the most impressive restaurants in these parts and his leaving seemed to catch the Hilton by surprise. Morell’s at first announced exciting new changes that seemed to be an emergency shuffle of the remaining kitchen staff, followed a couple of weeks later by the announcement that a new chef had signed on and that more exciting new changes were on the way. The newcomer is Donald Hamilton, who has a lot of experience in luxury hotel restaurants and is said to have graduated at the top of his class at the Culinary Institute of America.

This choice clearly suggested that Morell’s meant to continue in the same vein of lush, polished, special-occasion food colored with avant-gardism that Watren had mined there, and you get the same message from the new menu introduced three weeks ago. It even has some of Watren’s old dishes on it, though Hamilton may have put his stamp on them. One is the stuffed pepper (not the usual chile relleno pepper, but a narrower one like an Anaheim). The stuffing has been made to taste more Mexican than before--his is a stuffed pepper with mild peppers in the stuffing--and the tomatillo sauce is heavier on the cilantro, distinctly making one think of enchiladas. In any case, the funkiness of goat cheese in the filling is still a surprise.

On the whole, Morell’s is still Morell’s, but the new chef’s style strikes me as a little less forceful and a little more ingratiating than Watren’s. If they’d had Beethoven on the sound track before (as a matter of fact, there’s a string quartet on weekends, but it plays decorous numbers in the line of Mozart and C.P.E. Bach), it would be time to switch to Mendelssohn.

The menu is still committed to exotic mushrooms, though they’re becoming more and more familiar all the time, and one dish now titillates us with “golden chanterelles.” Goat cheese is still in high favor, even showing up in an apple tart at dessert--not the oddest idea in the world, since raw fruit and cheese are as traditional at the end of a meal as anything else, though the sweetness of the custard sauce flavored with French apple brandy is disorienting. There’s still a motif of exotic garnishes like polenta with four-leaf clover along with onions and peppers in it, and a definite predilection for meat dishes flavored with unusual fruits.

Two of the best dishes belong in that last category. One is venison with cranberries and green peppercorns in the meat glaze, the other is duck in pomegranate sauce with onion marmalade: thin-sliced onion, sweet and sour (that quality, rather than anything like marmalade texture, must be how it gets its name). I definitely prefer this duck to my memory of Watren’s blueberry model.

A number of other dishes are just about as good. “Seafood grill” is whatever they choose to grill plus some luscious tarragon-scented lobster sausage. Loin of lamb, which comes with the above-mentioned golden chanterelles (it’s a subtle shade of gold, visible to the pure in heart), is topped with basil and prosciutto, a bit loud for the lamb but basically irresistible. There’s also a delightful appetizer of prawns with pasta shells in a sauce combining mint, vermouth and a mighty dose of garlic.

But I have a couple of complaints. The fish tends to be a little mushy, and the pasta in the smoked goose ravioli is surprisingly tough (nice cream sauce, though, and a milder filling than you expect). And I am not convinced by this swordfish. Something about orange rind, green peppercorns and a sweet red pepper sauce is wrong, and it’s not just the color scheme.

Desserts are all rather good, strongly favoring strawberries and chocolate. The chocolate champs are the mousse cake, which comes as a Dark Tower of leaf chocolate topped with a lid that looks like a hat Loretta Young might wear, and a cheesecake (rather like cream cheese) with a chocolate base and a shingling of mandarin orange slices.

They tend to bring you little extras at Morell’s. A puff pastry turnover full of foie gras and oysters with a thick, tarragon-flavored sauce comes out as soon as you order dinner, and if an entree is running late, a sorbet shows up to help you kill the time. There may also be chocolates at the end of the meal, unless some table makes a pig of itself and eats them all. One appreciates the extras, because prices are on the luxury side. Appetizers run $3.50-$18, entrees are $17.50-$22, and a not-over-generous glass of chardonnay can be $5.25.

MORELL’S Irvine Hilton and Towers,

2699 White Road, Irvine.

(714) 863-3111.

Open for lunch Monday to Friday, for dinner Monday to Saturday. All major credit cards accepted.