San Diego Spotlight : Restaurants Go Through the Roof, but Prices Don’t

Although restaurateurs around town are crying into their generic Chardonnay about the degree to which business is down, two leading La Jolla establishments are looking up--to their upper stories, in which both George’s at the Cove and Top O’ the Cove have established new, combination bar-and-dining areas.

George’s, consistently considered one of the county’s trendier eateries and a devotee of contemporary California cuisine, built an upstairs bar several years ago and installed a light, snack menu at that time. It recently added a roof terrace on the floor above, however, which may make George’s the only triple-decker restaurant in San Diego. More to the point, the extensive menu served in this open air space remains well within George’s creative mood, while costing a good deal less than the list offered in the formal dining rooms downstairs.

Top O’ the Cove has been one of the city’s leading luxury houses for nearly four decades, and the addition of an upper room with a lower-priced, fairly casual menu was quite a departure for the place. This bar menu differs from the list at George’s in that, although sufficiently extensive and generally well-prepared, it takes fewer pains to follow the tone set on the floor below. But the bar itself, if more relaxed than the dining rooms, nonetheless maintains the style of the restaurant and is opulent in a modern sort of way, the oval marble counter trimmed in the same dark, rich woods that panel the walls.

If no longer truly novel, it remains a rare practice for luxury restaurants to extend themselves to serve a more broadly based, less free-spending clientele. For these La Jolla restaurants, the primary objective obviously is increased profit, which is the goal of any business establishment. But the benefit to diners is in some ways substantial, since those who might not otherwise be inclined to invest in the experiences can have tastes of the cuisines designed by George’s Scott Meskan and Top O’ the Cove’s Julius Seman.

Among Prospect Street dining areas with views, George’s roof garden unquestionably puts diners in the catbird seat. Low glass windscreens shield the tables, and, on a recent visit, the portable heaters effectively beat off the assault of what was, in truth, a frosty August night.

The menu was even more warming. Chef Meskan likes to play reasonably wild games with American cuisine themes, and he certainly had fun designing this excellent list, most of which comes in under $10 per serving and tops out at $14.95 for charbroiled swordfish with salsa fresca and a roasted corn cream sauce.

The snacks run from Meskan’s amusing turn on the mundane, Buffalo-style chicken wings, which he varies with a maple syrup marinade and a basting of three-alarm hot sauce, to a spicy quesadilla stuffed with Jamaican “jerk” chicken and a more sedate soup-salad combo. The sandwich list offers a burger with roasted red peppers and Gruyere cheese, fish tacos made lively with aioli (Provencale garlic mayonnaise) and a pita stuffed with lamb and beef gyros . Light entrees include a California cassoulet of meats smoked on the premises, tomatoes and beans; fresh fettuccine tossed with rock shrimp, snow peas and a garlic-Parmesan sauce, and charbroiled mahi mahi, served over greens with a peach-flavored vinaigrette.

London broil used to reign as the epitome of the businessman’s lunch but largely disappeared several years ago. At George’s roof eatery, it is reincarnated in a charbroiled, marinated version of great flavor, served with potatoes mashed with fresh corn kernels, a most likeable and substantial plate. A second formal (for this menu) entree treats slices of applewood-smoked pork loin to a Southern-style, sweet but tinglingly hot barbecue sauce, sided with both moderately sweet-sour red cabbage and a wonderfully clever sourdough “stuffing” flavored with pine nuts, sliced almonds, scallions and cilantro.

George’s is known for its tray of enormous, gooey, unashamedly rich desserts, of which four are offered on the roof. The chocolate satin pie is something like a butter cream--unimaginably smooth--finished with a toffee-coffee sauce that takes the plate somewhere over the edge of richness. Also rich, if more in the realm of the possible, is the fine pecan cheesecake in shortbread crust.

The bar menu at Top O’ the Cove is relatively conservative, but this is a formal establishment and, as compensation, the surroundings are plush. In addition, whenever the sun or moon choose to shine, the views of the Cove and the North County coast just don’t quit.

Chef Julius Seman offers a straightforward menu that, with the exception of a plate of caviar and salmon canapes, costs from $6 to $8 per plate.

Portions are substantial, although two guests who split a salad or pasta will not have trouble progressing to entrees. Seman has an immense talent with traditional Continental cooking, and it shows especially well with the salad of romaine, crumbled goat cheese, roasted bell peppers, chopped egg, tiny cured olives and potent, puckery mustard dressing. The chicken wings and chicken strips--the latter, lightly coated and fried until crusty, are not very interesting--seem to be offered in the spirit of bar snacks, but the turkey breast sandwich, layered on a bun and doused liberally with a spicy, peanut-based satay sauce, is a clever joining of themes and a very satisfying meal. The house cheeseburger, constructed on a massive basis and sided by a mound of highly seasoned french fries, comes across as standard fare given superior treatment.

Top O’ the Cove offers two pastas, spaghetti in the ubiquitous pesto sauce, and penne (quill-shaped macaroni) tossed with mush Parmesan and a light, fresh-tasting sauce of tomatoes and basil. The penne is good and not insubstantial. Other choices include a quesadilla with duck-based salsa , fried calamari rings, a Caesar salad garnished with sliced chicken breast and grilled, smoked pork chops with fried potatoes. The dessert selection borrows too little from the extravagances offered downstairs and leans heavily on cheesecakes, of which the version sampled was notably creamy and well-flavored.

GEORGE’S AT THE COVE roof garden

1250 Prospect St., La Jolla

454-4244

Lunch and dinner daily

Items cost cost $5.50 to $14.50.

A meal for two, including a glass

of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $50

Credit cards accepted

TOP O’ THE COVE BAR

1216 Prospect St., La Jolla

454-7779

Lunch and dinner daily

Items cost $6 to $8.

A meal for two, including

a glass of wine each, tax and

tip, about $25 to $45

Credit cards accepted