A Raucous Start for Le Bouvier’s

One thing impressed me about the first night at Le Bouvier’s Saloon, 9390 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, (213) 273-7155, which has just opened. After all of the usual first-night confusion, the maitre d’ came up to ask how everything had been. And he really wanted to know. He insisted that we tell him what we hadn’t liked. I found this heartening; it made me think the restaurant might turn out to be good after all.

It is almost impossible to judge a restaurant on its very first night. I can tell you that the bar is lively--a little raucous even--with a lot of action around the piano. The dining room however, is fairly quiet, with a sort of nouvelle American menu that includes everything from chili to Santa Fe seafood sausage to mussel soup en croute. (The only impressive dish we tried.) Other dishes include pasta (not very good), salads and overcooked veal, steak and fish dishes served with the requisite baby vegetables (in this case zucchini with the blossoms still attached). One nice touch: Garlicky scalloped potatoes are served family style in little gratin pans.

There is a generally pleasant feeling to the place, and an (expensive) all-American wine list that goes well with the naively rough-hewn look of the Saloon.