RESTAURANT REVIEW : Hemingway Offers Tasty, Novel Twists

It’s a lot like Idaho out here at Sam’s Cafe in Westlake Village, what with the pine trees and the wild ducks just outside the window. Perhaps that’s why grown-up movie ingenue Mariel Hemingway, who owns the restaurant, put it out here in the first place. Her grandfather, Ernest, loved to hunt and fish in Idaho and Sam (that’s Mariel, as the very hip will attest) spent the better part of her childhood in that state.

There’s little to remind you of Idaho inside her restaurant, though. Sam’s Cafe has roots in New York City (where a sister Sam’s continues to flourish), with food best described as Euro-Pacific Rim. Up-and-coming chef Gary Messick, the personable fellow responsible for most of the dishes here, is a native Californian with a resume that includes stints at both L’Orangerie and Cafe Katsu, and the ambience, though slightly rustic and reminiscent of an urban ski lodge, is far too hip and breezy for the Northwest.

Besides, the ski lodge appeal of the interior is compromised the second you come through the door. Staring you in the face is a life-size, stand-up effigy of--get this--a topless cow (really, a woman’s torso with a cow’s head), with peace symbols for the pupils of her limpid eyes. Fancy that in Idaho. If someone put the thing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Pocatello, the City Council would probably have the building condemned.

During the day, it’s almost de rigueur to sit on the slate-paved patio, lounging on plain white furniture that looks as if it came from Home Depot. The ducks paddle around contentedly in their pond, glad that their relatives are off the menu until dinner time. Dinner seems to call for the chalet atmosphere of the interior--a room for clinking wineglasses and watching the Santa Monica Mountains brood in the darkness.

But whatever time of day you come, odds are that you are going to eat well. Messick is gifted, there’s no question about it, and Sam’s Cafe is about as winning an eating spot as this area has at the moment.

The first clue comes on the simply written starter menu, filled with dishes that beckon to be ordered. Traditional crab cakes are given a novel twist with the addition of salmon, then artistically drizzled with a Cajun aioli. The cakes are little and delicate-looking, but they pack a surprise in every bite. You won’t leave any of these dense, subtly fishy ovals on your plate.

Mixed baby lettuces, mesclun and other ‘90s greens are given magical dimension by Chinese-style candied walnuts, wonderfully heady chunks of Iowa Maytag blue cheese and a lighthearted lemon dressing. As a luxurious alternative, you could order crisp potato pancakes, crowned with woody smoked salmon, extra-thick creme fraiche and a dollop of salmon caviar.

The serious stuff is yet to come. Messick takes simple things and combines them in such a way that they taste sophisticated, and his plates are loaded with visual appeal. No one could possibly feel too guilty enjoying Messick’s Chinese-style duck breast served blood-rare with a sticky orange ginger sauce, or the little crisped-up duck won tons that are ingenuously arranged alongside--not even while catching a glimpse of the live ducks out in the pond. The dish is just too good.

There is magic in many things here: for instance, the fine grilled pork tenderloin with flageolet beans and creamy grilled polenta, or the thick, juicy burger with good shoestring potatoes. Or how about roast breast of chicken? The happy-go-lucky free-range sort, of course, a perfect match for side dishes such as creamy garlic whipped potatoes or braised Savoy cabbage with bits of smoked ham mingled in.

The only weak spot seems to be fish--Idaho brook trout in a blue cornmeal crust, to name one. It’s probably wishful thinking to expect much from trout anyway, unless it’s just been yanked from a stream, but dressing it up in a dry crust and expecting a good result is a delusion. And the lunch dish called yellowtail BLT with coriander mayonnaise--well, it’s just a bad idea. Yellowtail is an oily enough fish without a rich, moss-colored emulsion all over it, but with coriander mayo, it’s simply inedible.

Desserts are just the opposite: simply irresistible. Passion fruit cheesecake is a real spellbinder, a thick graham-flour crust with an ink-black currant sauce running down the sides. So is gingered pineapple upside-down cake, a springy, eggy cake served warm with rum raisin sauce.

But it’s the warm chocolate gateau that is especially merciless, a flourless wedge the color of Snake River mud suspended atop a pool of rich vanilla sauce. Bet they’d even love this one in Pocatello.

Suggested dishes: Mixed baby lettuces with Maytag blue cheese and candied walnuts, $4.75; Chinese-style duck breast with crispy won tons, $16.95; roast chicken with garlic whipped potatoes, $13.95; warm chocolate gateau, $5.

Sam’s Cafe, 32037 Agoura Road, Westlake Village, (805) 495-8481. Lunch 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays; dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Full bar. Parking lot. Dinner for two, food only, $30 to $50.