Citrus--<i> a la Tres Californie</i>

“Tell me,” Michel Richard is asking the people at the next table, “do you think my restaurant is too French?”

It seems like a strange question to be asking on this bright umbrella-shaded patio sprinkled with casually dressed people who look like they’re posing for pictures of the good life. A funny question to be asking as you sit outside looking through a glass wall into a clean dream kitchen where even the cooks seem to be having a wonderful time. For although Citrus, 6703 Melrose Ave., (213) 857-0034, may be owned by Los Angeles’ premier French pastry chef, you would never know it.

Consider the menu. For starters there are dishes like coleslaw with crab (delightful, delicious and not at all what you’re expecting), and littleneck clams in pesto sauce. Entrees run the gamut from a surprising “tart” of eggplant and chicken to soy-marinated flank steak with a great frizz of fried potatoes. Consider the cheerful laid-back service; even the French waiters seem to have somehow lost their accents. Consider the architecture; its sunny look seems to scream California. Consider the prices; California moderate (entrees are priced in the mid-teens at night).

Citrus is only a week old, but already it seems like it will be a fine addition to our California restaurants. Too French? Hardly.