30-Year-Old La Jolla Landmark : Top O’ the Cove: Food’s Fine, Prices Aren’t

La Jolla’s landmark Top O’ the Cove has changed hands several times in recent years; the current owner, former Frenchy Marseilles proprietor Ron Zappardino, assumed control in the closing months of 1985.

There was a day when Top O’ the Cove was known as the grande dame of local eateries, but, under its last couple of proprietors, it began to come down in the world, rather like a dowager ruined by drink and bad investments.

Generally, Zappardino seems to have done a good job of reversing the downward trend by giving the place a badly needed refurbishment and by installing the experienced, workmanlike and usually reliable Julius Seman in the kitchen.

Top O’ the Cove historically (the place is more than 30 years old, which makes it almost prehistoric in local restaurant terms) has been an important restaurant, very much the place where one would go for a special occasion.

Indeed, given the choice ocean view, the formal service and the candlelight, the place has become famous for its romantic atmosphere, and it may be that more diamond rings have been proffered and accepted here than at any restaurant in the county.

Certain Reservations

By and large, Zappardino and Seman have worked wonders with Top O’ the Cove. But this statement is made with certain serious reservations.

For starters, the place is remarkably expensive, rather more than would seem justified; its prices are right at the top, although it is by no means the best restaurant in the area.

The menu, although interesting, is static--having been set in print, it seems to have been graven in stone, and all that relieves its sameness are a few daily specials.

Most irritating of all, the menu often is inaccurate. Several dishes apparently have been modified since the menu was printed, a discovery made only when these dishes are served.

Another irritating difficulty concerns the restaurant’s practice of having the waiters present the daily specials orally. Many restaurants do this, and it is never appreciated. Not only is it difficult to remember details (one does not go to a restaurant to practice memorization techniques), but the issue of price never comes up, and at Top O’ the Cove, price is an important topic.

For example, a waiter recently mentioned a first course of “duck liver salad.” He did not specify that instead of ordinary duck liver (which is quite tasty) the dish was made with foie gras, which is much choicer but also vastly more costly.

$15 Salad

The salad included three tiny slices of foie gras arranged over some nice greens, with a garnish of raspberries and sauteed apple slices; it was very pretty and quite delicious, but when the bill arrived and it turned out that this dish cost $15, a serious case of sticker shock ensued.

The same thing happened later when a pleasant--but hardly remarkable--dessert proved to have cost $7.50.

These unpleasant surprises could have been avoided had the specials and desserts been written on a card and inserted in the menu, a task so simple that its omission is without justification.

The menu overall is rather grand and solemn. (It gains comic relief from a listing that specifies Dungeonous crab; this beast may come from the depths, but not that far down). Luxury items prepared in fairly typical fashions characterize the menu.

The appetizer list begins with caviar and moves on to oysters on the half shell, pate de foie gras and crab cocktail; of some interest here are the frogs’ legs in herbed garlic sauce, and Dutch smoked herring in sour cream (Chef Seman is Dutch, and he may as well be allowed to indulge himself a bit).

The soup list includes the obligatory gratinee Lyonnaise (French onion) and lobster bisque, and among typical entrees are duck in orange sauce, pepper steak and rack of lamb.

There is more. An appetizer of gravlax norvegienne, the famous Scandinavian cured salmon (cured but raw, it is a kind of Viking ceviche), was tender and richly flavored, and possibly worthy of its $9 price tag. A nice, traditionally sweet mustard sauce accompanied it. But here was a case of menu inaccuracy: The menu specified “salmon draped with a ginger sesame seed dressing,” and, as just mentioned, the fish was in mustard sauce; neither ginger nor sesame was in evidence.

Non-Traditional Caesar

Two guests split a Caesar salad, which the menu described as “hearts of romaine served with a traditional Caesar dressing.” Even a glance at the plates indicated there was nothing traditional about this Caesar, and a taste confirmed the suspicion. Caesar salad calls for romaine tossed with egg, lemon, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy filets or paste, and Parmesan cheese. This salad, which omitted most of those ingredients in favor of mayonnaise, lime juice and Parmesan, was dry, and certainly was not at all like the anticipated salad.

This is a major point--you can’t assign names that really mean something to dishes that only approximate the genuine articles.

Among other salads are an interesting-sounding combination of marinated scallops dressed with cilantro and caviar, and butter lettuce topped with walnuts and discs of warmed goat cheese.

A much less serious omission did nothing to lessen the pleasure of an entree of scallops garnished with bits of smoked salmon in a light, handsome cream sauce. The menu specified the presence of fennel, which was not at all evident, but the salmon, modified by the sauce, tasted almost like bacon and gave a wonderful flavor to the dish.

Winning Dish

The menu also noted that the scallops were sauteed; they were in fact grilled, which made them magnificently moist and left them tender. This was a winning dish, made ever so pretty by a decorative (and tasty) cross-hatching of tiny asparagus spears. A plate of mixed young vegetables and acceptable potatoes gratin was served on the side; the same garnish accompanies most entrees.

One dish that was exactly what the menu promised was a grilled veal chop in a tarragon-flavored cream sauce. Cooked slightly rare, the meat was beautifully tender, and the sauce, enriched with a great deal of tarragon, was a perfect foil.

Among other entrees are linguine with shrimp, tomatoes and basil; filet mignon in red wine sauce with grapes; pheasant breast in ginger sauce, and sauteed chicken breast in a sauce of white wine and chives. Fish are offered as daily specials. A recent selection included three, among them an interesting-sounding preparation of thinly sliced ahi, flash-grilled so that one side would be raw, and one side cooked, a kind of demi-sashimi. An oil-based salsa accompanied this dish.

A tray of homemade desserts is brought to the table. The selection is attractive, but less so when one discovers that a “Russian cream” (mixed sweet and sour creams topped with macerated berries) costs $7.50, and that a lemon tart costs $5.50. Chocolate truffles arrive gratis with the check, and cannot be faulted.

Top ‘O the Cove enjoys a worldwide reputation for its wine list, as it should. Running to 48 pages, it even boasts a table of contents, and displays remarkable depth; the list of California Chardonnays alone runs to four handsome pages. This list, like the service, decor and view, serves to elevate the restaurant to a rather rarefied plane.

It would remain on that plane if the menu were changed frequently (several top houses print menus daily) and the dishes were always described accurately.

TOP O’ THE COVE.

1216 Prospect St., La Jolla.

Reservations recommended. 454-7779.

Dinner served nightly.

Credit cards accepted.

Dinner for two, with a moderate bottle of wine, tax and tip, $80 to $140.