CALIFORNIA COOKING

For some of the most contemporary cuisine around, try these recently reviewed restaurants. BEAR FLAG CAFE (5225 Canyon Crest Drive, Building No. 9, Riverside, (714) 369-FLAG). Looking like a Swiss travel-poster with its shirred white curtains, pretty flower boxes and rustic wood facade, this is a splendid place to sample Golden State dishes. Sample the warm leek salad with its baked yams, artichoke hearts and cilantro vinaigrette. The spinach and smoked slab bacon salad (with hefty garlic croutons) is so big that it is best shared. The pasta here is all homemade; fettuccine is glossed with Parmesan cream and tossed with shards of lusty shrimp. There’s a pork dish that involves plump but lean sausages served with yellow corn cake, crisp red and white cabbage and a fresh handful of California crops. The wine list is solid and the desserts, created on the premises, should not be ignored. Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner daily. Full bar. Parking in lot. AE, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$50.

CAFE MONDRIAN (Mondrian Hotel, 8440 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (213) 650-8999). There’s a great view in this lovely light-filled room, and you can actually converse here without megaphones. The chilled melon soup is good and the endive salad couldn’t be fresher or more prettily served. A half-broiled chicken--suffused with ginger, lime and soy sauce--is finely textured and grilled crisp to a coppery sheen. The vegetables are beautifully presented; so much that you might hesitate to disturb them. There’s a pasta primavera with fanciful red, green and white shells that’s absolutely comforting. Do cheeseburgers turn you on? Cafe Mondrian has a version that’s tres Californian and a delight to eat. Open daily from 7 a.m.-1:30 a.m. All major credit cards. Complimentary valet parking. Full bar. Dinner for two, food only, $60-$85.

CROCODILE CAFE (140 S. Lake St., Pasadena, (818) 449-9900). This no-frills little brother of the Parkway Grill offers good food at attractive prices; clearly the kitchen cares. There is usually a wait, but you can sip a glass of wine and contemplate the menu. The pasta dishes deliver. Linguine with tomatoes, ricotta cheese, and basil provides exactly what it promises; simple ingredients in perfect balance. A clear cut winner among the larger plates is the grilled chicken breast with papaya and chili-mint relish, fried plantains, crema and black beans; a generous plate for $7.45. Desserts are sparse, but look for the deep-dark chocolate cake or a lip-smacking brownie sundae. Open daily 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Fri. and Sat. till midnight, Sun. to 10 p.m. Beer and wine. No reservations. Validated parking during the day; valet at night. All major credit cards. Dinner for two, food only, $15-$35.

CLAES’ CALIFORNIA CUISINE (Hotel Laguna, 245 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (714) 494-1151). This place is right downtown (snuggled inside a landmark hotel), there’s a great ocean view and it even boasts a fashion show at lunch! As for appetizers, salmon seems to dominate: marinated salmon with a sweet Scandinavian mustard sauce, Danish smoked salmon, salmon fettuccine and so forth. A unique dish (they should call it “The Jimmy Carter”) is a broiled chicken breast that comes with peanut butter. Try the duck breast, which possesses a strange, dusty aroma that goes curiously well with the sauce of honey and port wine. Culminate your evening with a luscious ice cream cake consisting of hazelnut and chocolate layers in raspberry sauce, topped with real whipped cream. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, Sunday brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. All major credit cards. Relaxed dress code. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$40.

THE DARWIN (312 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (213) 458-4143). Tastefully wood-paneled to look like an English men’s club, there is a respectable young professional singles crowd at the bar. The sedate dining room with frosted-glass lighting and spanking white tablecloths draws an older, more conservative clientele. Chef Peter DeLuca, ex of 72 Market St., has brought a California feel to this place. The grilled breast of chicken (with a salad dressed in balsamic vinaigrette) is rather large for an appetizer but is great with a drink as a light dinner before a movie. In the entree category, there’s something for everyone: a juicy, blood-rare, good-quality New York steak or some Norwegian salmon adorned by a rosemary/Pommery mustard sauce. Mon.-Thur. 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking in the evening. All major credit cards. Dinner for two, food only, $35-$60.

ZEPPA (2304 Ocean Front, Newport Beach, (714) 675-1930). Pier neighborhoods tend to be on the, well, fishy side, if you’ll excuse the pun. But the environs here are colorful in style, we’re pleased to say. The theme is pink and gray, with gray walls, pink indirect lighting and even one room with a trompe l’oeil ceiling of clouds. The menu runs to Italian and crazy-California dishes, one being the obligatory lunatic California pizza topped with duck (smoked on the premises), a mix of mozzarella and string cheese, basil-mint pesto sauce and mandarin orange sections. Chicken seems to be highly popular in this state and Zeppa obliges with a flavorful grilled range chicken dish. It’s half a bird with a special “three-citrus cream.” Also consider a rack of lamb first roasted in the wood oven, then cut into chops and grilled, served with rosemary-flavored meat diluted with sharp Barolo wine. Open daily for dinner. Beer and wine. All major credit cards. Dinner for two, food only, $35-$50.