Less Expensive, but the Touch Remains : French Chef Grumel Tries New Location

Anyone who poked his head into a French kitchen in North County in the last decade or so stood an excellent chance of encountering Vincent Grumel.

North County has not been home to all that many French restaurants over the years, and Grumel has cooked at most of them, beginning with Mon Ami in Solana Beach and continuing with stints, sometimes as part-owner, at Bertrand’s in Leucadia, Maison du Lac in Carlsbad, Cuisine a la Carte in Del Mar and, most recently, Vincent’s in Encinitas.

All of these restaurants, like the salt spume tossed up by a breaker at Moonlight Beach, have evaporated into memories, although those who enjoy fine French fare tend to reminisce enthusiastically about such Grumel triumphs as gratin dauphinoise (a garlicky potato casserole), duck roasted to a burnished amber and the magnificent Bavarois au chocolat , a complicated Bavarian cream that ranks with the best desserts of the century.

Grumel has landed at another location in which he shares ownership, and it may be, in restaurant terms, the best location thus far. At high tide Grumel’s new Vincent/Four Seasons would be no farther than 50 surfboard lengths from the ocean--it’s next to Carlsbad Inn at Elm Avenue and Carlsbad Boulevard.

Restaurant Serves 3 Functions

The restaurant serves three functions. It supplies room service to the hotel as well as housing refrigerated carry-out cases stocked with attractive French delicatessen and Grumel’s ineffable pastries. But the primary mission is serving good cuisine bourgeoise , a change from the days when Grumel specialized in fancier and costlier fare.

“ Alors! Here, we charge $13.95 to $15.95 and give soup or salad, and people love it,” Grumel said after a recent dinner. “I can’t charge the prices like at the places where I used to cook. I hope I have some success this time.”

Grumel stands a fair chance of getting his wish because his cooking continues to be not only refined, but, for lack of a more suitably descriptive term, energetic. He infuses dishes with strong, wonderful flavors, employing herbs with confidence and strong doses of garlic and other pungent seasonings.

The menu is a little more rustic than those Grumel has cooked before, but not rough, because its rural notes come from the French countryside. The back country of Provence, Grumel’s home, is well represented, but other regions show their colors. There are touches of ultra-contemporary cuisine, such as the charred scallops with candied orange sauce and the “shrimp ‘n pasta with tomatoes, herbs ‘n pimentos.” The same items are available at lunch and dinner, although prices are higher at night, especially for desserts which can run as much as $6. As good as they are, that seems a bit steep.

Specials on a Blackboard

The daily specials are written on a blackboard, and the list by and large is so appealing that recourse to the printed menu seems unnecessary. A recent roster offered blanquette de veau , the famously creamy fricassee of veal; a terribly novel-sounding smoked swordfish and goat cheese pizza; boeuf bourguignon ; lamb stew and bstilla , the poultry pie that is the Moroccan national dish. This dish gained worldwide notoriety just last weekend, when it starred as the entree at the $2-million birthday bash that publisher Malcolm Forbes threw for himself in Tangier.

Lighter offerings include the quiche and omelet of the day, as well as salads such as celery root, Oriental chicken, tabouli , tortellini with artichokes and others, most of which are on display in the delicatessen cases. These cases, by the way, give the main room an informal tone. The outdoor terrace seems more appealing, however, particularly in summer. The staff provides cheerful and competent service.

Meals open with a basket of wonderfully crusty, baked-on-premises baguette, which may be as good an appetizer as the offerings of shrimp in puff pastry, snails, oysters Rockefeller and, rather surprisingly, a twice-baked potato.

Price Includes Soup

Grumel prepares pasta the French way. Guests who want to share a first course might split an order of the tortellini, which arrive napped with an unctuous reduction of cream and cheese and are delicate and savory. The price of the entree includes salad or soup. While the salad tends to be competent, the soup can be exquisite, as was a fine and full-bodied cream of fresh tomato scented with dill.

A party of four gave most of its attention to the special entrees, of which the most successful was the bstilla . Shaped like a log, it consisted of a dozen layers of beautifully crisped phyllo dough stuffed with minced, saffron-flavored chicken, a beautifully rich filling. Dustings of powdered sugar and cinnamon gave it the traditional Moroccan--and, to Western tastes, very exotic--finish.

The boeuf bourguignon was a typically hearty stew, the meat softly chewy and the smooth gravy rich in onions and carrots with an occasional whole clove of garlic tossed in to startle inattentive diners. The lamb stew, although similar in nature, was dressier because it was baked in a deep dish beneath a fragile puff pastry. The stew also featured a more exciting flavor, thanks to the fresh mint and the handful of green, unpitted olives that pinpointed its Provencale origin.

The salmon in red bell pepper sauce was chosen from among the standing entrees. It had been poached by the book and was accordingly soft, fleshy and succulent. The somewhat sharp sauce did have an underlying bite, adding edible punctuation marks to each forkful of fish. The standing list also offers grilled chicken breast in raspberry sauce, roast duckling with caramelized citrus peel, lamb chops with garlic butter and steak in green peppercorn sauce.

The triumph of the pastry tray remains the tarte Tatin, a large wedge cut from a giant wheel of flaky pastry crammed with buttery, caramelized apples. Grumel moistened this with a ladle of creme anglaise , which he flavored, rather unusually but quite likeably, with orange. Other choices included a blueberry Bavarian cream, a fat and thoroughly indulgent-looking eclair and a millefeuille or Napoleon, its “thousand leaves” of homemade puff pastry separated by layers of pastry cream and fresh strawberry.

VINCENT / FOUR SEASONS

3001 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad

756-0822

Lunch and dinner served Tuesday through Saturday, lunch only on Sunday; closed Monday.

Credit cards accepted.

Dinner for two, with a glass of wine each, tax and tip, $35 to $70.