RESTAURANTS : A Regular Joe Runs This Place

When you eat at a restaurant named Joe’s, you might expect certain things: honest service, homey surroundings and chicken-fried steak.

The newest Joe’s in town, Joe’s Restaurant in Venice, doesn’t serve the chicken-fried steak--it’s more an arugula-salad kind of place. But it turns out that the chef here is a regular Joe.

Joseph Miller, who’s worked at the Brentwood Bar & Grill and Cafe Katsu, eschews kiwi-slinging experimentation for smart, good-tasting versions of what might be called Joe Food. Where a Joe’s diner might serve, say, fried chicken, Miller offers what he calls “crispy” chicken served with Parmesan-stuffed potatoes and spinach. There is good, rare salmon served with asparagus and wild rice, and even “roasted” beef with mashed potatoes. The green salad comes with ranch dressing.

When Miller does get showy--his risotto topped with scallops and a frizzle of deep-fried carrots, for instance--he makes sure that the intensity of his flavors lives up to his pretty presentations. Many of his chef’s tricks are subtle. You might be eating a perfectly lovely arugula salad and suddenly discover a delicious round of grilled eggplant hiding beneath the greens.

Add a calm, unpretentious dining room (the site of the original Rockenwagner), friendly service and a fairly priced wine list, and you have the sort of nice, neighborhood restaurant that Los Angeles needs more of: a good Joe.

* Joe’s Restaurant, 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (213) 399-5811. Entrees, $13-$16.