RESTAURANTS / Max Jacobson : Emphasis on Flash Overwhelms Substance at High-Concept Eatery

Salud, a high-concept new Mexican restaurant in Huntington Beach, looks like a set Roger Corman might have used for a movie about Aztec discomania. Actually, it’s the latest venture of Larry Cano, who has opened many notable restaurants over the years--among them Cano’s, the swank Las Brisas and the excellent El Torito G-R-I-L-L.

But this may be his most outlandish design. The dim yet eerily spacious room is bedecked with multicolored ribbons of neon and splashed with muted, earthy pastels. There is enough craftsy south-of-the-border furniture to stock a swap meet. And, of course, there is an open kitchen.

Cano and partner Fred Le Franc know what goes into producing successful Mexican restaurants these days; what they’ve done here is combine virtually all of it under one roof.

Margaritas are hand-shaken, not blended, then poured from handsome stainless-steel shakers. Hand-patted tortillas come to the table fresh and hot from the comal , a giant griddle at the front of the room. Fajitas sizzle loudly enough to drown out the piped-in salsa music. Trendy ‘80s chiles such as chipotle and ancho crop up everywhere. As might be expected, blue corn is practically a sacrament.

And for those who have trouble deciphering the menu, there’s help on the back page--a glossary of food terms that explains terms such as guajillo (a mahogany red chile), epazote (a resinous green herb) and achiote (a red-orange seed from the annatto tree).

But the whole of a restaurant is greater than the sum of its parts, and Salud doesn’t add up to much. It delivers the flash and the special effects, but it is sorely lacking in depth.

Take the margarita. The drink is advertised as Cuervo 1800 with fresh squeezed (that’s underlined) lime juice and orange juice; the waiter tells you that it is made with Cointreau instead of the more mundane Triple Sec. What appears, however, is a watery green fruit punch. I could barely detect the tequila.

An appetizer plate called the Bolero Platter sounds great too: blue corn taquitos filled with duck and chicken; popcorn tamalitos, Halloween-candy-size pouches steamed in banana leaves; quesadillas ; and garnachos , blue-corn tortillas filled with black beans and carnitas. But only the tamalitos have any real snap, and even they take a back seat to the tortillas and zippy salsa quemada you get as a reward for just sitting down.

The soups, though, are a strong point. A wonderful pureed black-bean soup is brought out with a silver condiment tray of little dishes of chopped cilantro, crumbled bacon, cacique cheese, sliced onion and some fiery peppers to mix in as you please. Better still is pozole verde , whole hominy and shredded chicken in a moss-green broth. It’s one of the homiest soups I’ve ever tasted in a restaurant.

Salud’s combination dishes let you try many of the restaurant’s more exotic items on the same plate. Zona Rosa combines a soft duck taco with a chicken chipotle enchilada. Agave is turkey in mole with a beef sope. Zia is a chicken tamale with a blue-corn taco. None of these combinations knocked me out, but they do come with side dishes that are quite good (that doesn’t include the tired Mexican rice overcooked to a crispy crunch). The smoky black beans and the terrific little scoop of buttery corn pudding are real treats.

From the specialty list, I found mostly good, solid cooking. Many meats are wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in the Yucatecan pibil style. A juicy mesquite-grilled breast of chicken comes with a rich pasilla cream sauce and a flavorful jicama relish. Rotisserie leg of lamb is huge slices of lamb in a so-so red chile sauce, with a side of borrachos (drunken) beans (these aren’t nearly as good as the black beans you get as a side dish).

The empanadas are gigantic, as big as calzone, with fillings that change daily. (One evening the empanada was mahi mahi with goat cheese, pine nuts and chiles.) And there are loads of fajitas, a Cano trademark.

Desserts are made on the premises, and they are imaginative. Ibarra chocolate bread pudding--little cubes of fudge-soaked bread in a tequila orange creme anglaise served with Mexican coffee ice cream--is the best. It’s great. So is the Telluride taco, an almond-crusted taco with a mocha mousse inside. If those don’t interest you, try the heavily caramelized, dense cheese flan or the creamy strawberry margarita pie.

Salud’s prices are low-end moderate. Appetizers are $3.25 to $6.95. Salads are $2.95 to $6.95. Main dishes are $5.50 to $9.95. Desserts are $2.95 to $3.50.

SALUD

17041 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

(714) 842-1194

Open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday until midnight

All major cards accepted