P.J. Wolf Modifies Upscale Persona As It Expands Offerings on Menu

The Aventine restaurant row in the Golden Triangle probably is the only corner of San Diego in which valet parking has become a major growth industry.

This collection of four large, lavish eateries, built in the 5 o’clock shadow of the Hyatt Regency hotel, opened less than a year ago. Even so, it has caught on to the point that, at least on weekends, the parking valets often do a turn-away business. Youth, gilded and otherwise, largely is responsible for the crush, which overflows the restaurants’ tables and bars to jam the sidewalk cafes operated by three of them. The scene is unrivaled in San Diego, and, if you watch long enough, it seems that just about anything may happen. One recent Friday, an impossibly long, white, stretch limousine rolled up and disgorged its driver, an Elvis Presley look-alike so convincing that he seemed to have stepped straight from the cover of a supermarket tabloid.

P.J. Wolf, the restaurant that holds the greatest appeal for the over-25 set, seems a haven of calm after passing through the outdoor bustle. The place opened in January as the most upscale of the collection, a position that it maintains today, although the menu has been rewritten considerably to reflect the new price-consciousness that has prompted several restaurants to offer lower-priced meals.

When P.J. Wolf opened, it took the tone of an extravagant New York steakhouse, expressed through an a la carte menu of luxury items that, if indulged in freely, added up to one of the heftier dinner checks in town. Massive steaks held center stage, to be sure, supplemented by several deluxe seafood offerings. The starters and side dishes were particularly grand and helped very much to make the meal.

The restaurant has modified rather than discarded its upscale persona. Gone are the crusty, finely vinegary potatoes lyonnaise and the exquisitely garlicky creamed spinach, both of which cost more than $4, and that in a city virtually unacquainted with a la carte menus. Gone, too, are the crab-stuffed shrimp and some of the steaks, although the menu continues to list New York sirloin and filet mignon cut from certified Angus beef. At $21.95, these weigh in as by far the priciest items. Both continue to be lightly brushed, if desired, with the kitchen’s appealing fiorentina basting sauce, a sort of all-purpose blend of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice that P.J. Wolf also applies to the grilled fresh seafood of the day.

The old menu disdained prime rib, but the new one includes it in three cuts priced from $13.95 to $17.50. Other innovations are barbecued pork ribs, served as a full slab for $13.95; a chopped steak (made from trimmings of Angus beef, which is a nice touch) at $11.95; sole stuffed with seafood, also $11.95; and several moderately priced pastas. One of these echoes a popular dish served at the Manhattan restaurant in downtown La Jolla, which is under the same ownership as P.J. Wolf. Manhattan’s steak Sinatra, a generous sirloin topped with sauteed peppers, onions and tomatoes, here becomes fettuccine Sinatra, or noodles tossed with tenderloin tips and the same garnish.

The menu also has been expanded to include a pair of handsome and relatively expensive veal chop preparations, one finished parmigiana-style, the other a more delicate milanese that moistens the crisp, breaded crust with lemon, butter and parsley. Free-range Shelton chicken, a recent addition to several local menus, is basted with herbs as it roasts and is offered for one or two.

Except that entrees now include a vegetable garnish, the menu retains an a la carte format. The brief appetizer list includes Louisiana oysters, served raw on the shell or baked Rockefeller-style; fried zucchini and calamari rings; and an impressive shrimp cocktail that is chunked rather than whole, and blended into the sauce so that it seems a sort of pungent cold soup.

The salads continue to be on the extravagant side, but worth it. The best may be the tomato salad, an obvious idea with which local eateries rarely trouble themselves, perhaps because it eschews greens and thus seems un-Californian. It consists simply of a ring of thickly cut, wonderfully ripe tomato slices, layered with thin rounds of red onion and topped with apple-smoked bacon of marvelous flavor, Parmesan cheese and a smooth, mint-and-garlic vinaigrette. The DiMaggio salad also is a blend of flavorful, top-quality ingredients, including mixed greens, crumbled blue cheese, minced bacon, egg and scallions and a mild dressing.

The chopped steak was grilled to a crusty finish, with its fine succulence picked up by an old-fashioned, all-American brown sauce jammed with wilted onions and mushrooms.

The kitchen also grilled medium-sized scallops, an increasingly prevalent method that takes a little getting used to. But these had a tender finish, which is not easy with a creature as temperamental as a scallop. The grill also imparted a notably smoky flavor, which the kitchen moderated with a generous basting of fiorentina sauce.

The side dishes still arrive in quantity sufficient to serve two or three, so be careful when ordering. The “Italian” steak fries nearly make the grade, except that this is one of those restaurants that considers it chic to leave the peel on the potato. These particular spuds get a flavorful sprinkle of Parmesan and olive oil on the way from the fryer to the table. The stuffed potato au gratin was exactly what it sounds like, which is to say stuffed with cheese and twice-baked to a very creamy texture. The side par excellence , however, was a platter of doughnut-sized onion rings, tender despite their immense girth and very tasty when dipped in the pungent barbecue sauce offered on the side.

P.J. Wolf has its own Italian baker, who turns out a lavish tray decorated with sfogliatella, a many-leaved crisp pastry filled with a smooth cream; rum cake; a rich, tipsy cannoli cake; crisp cannoli in plain and very good chocolate versions studded with pistachios; eclairs; a forgettable chocolate mousse cake; a traditional Napoleon and a fruity alternative named, most aptly, the Josephine.

The decor hovers somewhere between the formal and the theatrical. The richly paneled walls support pastiche-like paintings of celebrities; Marlene Dietrich wears a boa of real peacock feathers and Michael Jackson’s jacket is fitted with real studs. The most striking may be the portrait of Bette Davis, whose eyes stare sardonically at a dining room (for those who recall the restaurant scene in “All About Eve”) equipped with nary a relish tray.

P.J. WOLF, 8980 University Centre Lane, 452-9653. Lunch and dinner daily. Credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, $35 to $90.