Nothing’s Crazy About Food at the Scarlet Loco

Offhand, Scarlet Loco sounds descriptive of the state of mind Miss O’Hara of Tara entered whenever she set her cap at the elusive Ashley Wilkes.

Scarlet loco actually is the name of a flowering plant, a non-intoxicating member of the locoweed family indigenous to the mountains and deserts of Southern California. This simple fact--and several others less rooted in terra firma--inspired native Californian Andy Schneider and his Canadian-born partner, John McCarthy, to paint this provocatively odd name over the entrance to their new downtown restaurant.

“Blood is scarlet, and to have the restaurant business in your blood like John and I do you have to be a little crazy. We prove that to ourselves every day,” said Schneider after work one recent night. “That’s another reason why we chose the name Scarlet Loco.”

Despite the name, the tone and look of the place are restrained; the service is professional and unobtrusive, the decor minimal at present, although several commissioned paintings from a Northern California artist are on the way and should brighten the place.

The style of the menu at this medium-sized eatery, which occupies the site at Front and Ash streets formerly held by the long-running Jelly Bean Express, is reminiscent of those at Cafe Pacifica and Pacifica Grill. Schneider cooked at the first, and McCarthy did dining room duty at the second. The pair, who first worked together at the old Bombay Bicycle Club on Shelter Island in 1977, rejoined forces earlier this year at the University Club, where Schneider worked as executive chef and McCarthy as maitre d’. Scarlet Loco, the result of the reunion, specializes in hearty variations on the ever-changing themes of contemporary cuisine.

Schneider restrains himself from running loco in the kitchen, but just barely; there certainly is nothing timid about his cooking. Aggressive flavors are the norm, and there is a pleasing robustness to virtually every dish. A lagniappe of hummous , the Middle Eastern chick pea dip (here seasoned quite liberally with cumin), arrives with a selection of raw vegetables for guests to munch while reading the menu. The soup selection includes a standing offering of cream of poblano chiles--it’s an interesting idea to marry chile heat with silky cream--supplemented by such daily offerings as a smoky Navy bean whose filling warmth was most welcome on one of the recent frigid evenings.

The tamest of the appetizers would be the sweetbreads with braised leeks and a sherried cream sauce. After this, the tempo beats more quickly with mussels steamed in white wine seasoned with herbs and tomato; salmon cakes with fennel and the pungent, garlic-based mayonnaise called aioli , and a crepe of snails and crisped pancetta (Italian bacon) dressed with pesto and fresh tomato sauce. The pissaladiere , while tasty, seems rather a fast-and-loose variation on this Nicoise-style pizza, which generally calls for a topping of sliced onions, tiny black olives and anchovies. Schneider instead dresses the puff pastry crust with goat cheese, a pesto-like basil mix and tomato. Also good, and spiced sensibly, is the grilled shrimp cocktail, which surrounds a cup of smoky-flavored fresh tomato sauce with nicely charred, medium-sized shellfish.

Meals include the choice of soup or salad, and the mix of greens is good if not spectacular. The house dressing, designated as garlic-Dijon, is an example of truth in advertising, since it has a sharp garlic bite intensified by the hot mustard. Among a la carte salads are a Bermuda onion, tomato and cucumber; and a tropical combo of grilled chicken, papaya and avocado dressed with mango-based vinaigrette.

Schneider uses a lot of tomato, and it reappears in the saffron-enriched broth filled out with mussels, pancetta and squash that is poured over angel hair pasta. In this department there are also cheese-stuffed cappeletti tossed with cream and bits of ham, chive and roasted shallot, and fettuccine topped with the day’s mix of garlic-seasoned seafood.

The entrees are loosely in the new “Pacific Rim” style, which is to say combinations of foods and flavors that may be Southwestern, Oriental, Mexican, prepared nonetheless according to the very best French kitchen precepts. A “crispy” Thai duck in gingered honey sauce leads off the list, and while it was not uniformly crisp when sampled, those bites that were had an exquisite flavor. The sauce, notably sweet and milder than many of Schneider’s offerings, was heighted by the flavor of the sesame seed coating that added an extra dimension to the bird’s skin. Also in a notably Oriental style is the “lacquered” king salmon, glazed by repeated brushings with plum-pepper sauce.

One day’s special fish, fresh local albacore, was cut thick and round like a tenderloin steak and was given a sensational, lightly charred finish on the grill. A sauce that seemed at first like choron , or tomatoed bearnaise, actually was a beurre blanc flavored in the mood of the moment with sun dried tomatoes and capers; it was delicious with the fish, and the two together made a stellar plate.

Schneider treated the albacore like a steak, and he also treats real steak quite well. The grilled rib eye, briefly marinated in whiskey (Canadian whiskey, in deference to McCarthy’s homeland) and served with a whiskey-flavored butter, has a tangy and perky flavor, and the crisply fried onions on the side are quite the perfect complement. (Plate garnishes typically also include green beans with almonds, undercooked in the currently fashionable style, but a little too crunchy; and a too thickly cut, insufficiently creamy gratin of potatoes. These standard garnishes seem the restaurant’s weak point).

The fairly brief entree list also offers roasted pork tenderloin, coated in pine nuts and sauced with a basil-balsamic vinegar blend; roasted bob white quail; grilled, curry-marinated chicken breast and grilled lamb chops with rosemary sauce.

The desserts are in a staunchly American idiom and include respectable versions of key lime pie and Kahlua flan. The wine list sticks to California, matches the menu well and offers a better-than-usual selection of moderately priced bottles, as well as several drinkable selections poured by the glass.

Scarlet Loco 1400 Front St., San Diego 234-2000

Lunch weekdays, dinner nightly Entrees $8.95-$17.95 Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $35 to $75

Credit cards accepted