RESTAURANT REVIEW SAN YSIDRO RANCH : Back to the Basics : The historic hideaway has banished French sauces and now serves hearty and satisfying American fare, with great success.

Since purchasing the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito in 1987, the motto of new owner Claude Rouas seems to have been: Change is constant. A new kitchen staff has been installed at least twice, and the restaurant and bar have undergone extensive redecorating.

Regardless of how much spiff and polish they have applied, however, they couldn’t paint away the historic character of the place. Nor would they want to, for this is an immense part of the charm of this hideaway for the rich and famous.

The oldest building on the gorgeous hillside property, a small adobe, dates back to 1825. The painted sandstone restaurant, originally a lemon packing plant, was built before the turn of the century.

The latest decorating extravaganza at the ranch has left this lovely restaurant with an aura of luxurious weekend-in-the-country chic. In their khakis, denim and brightly colored ties, the servers could have been dressed by Ralph Lauren.

The most drastic change has been in the menu; and judging by the number of people crowding in there one recent blustery Saturday, the innovation has been a great success. Gone is the French chef and the dishes with precious vegetables and subtle sauces. The fare is now described as “regional American cuisine,” and I think this is one of the most interesting menus on the South Coast.

Under the hand of chef Gerald Thompson, the dishes have a kind of panoramic sweep to them, suggestive of native bounty from Yankee kitchens to Southwestern haciendas.

My dining companion one evening claimed that by sticking with the classics--vodka gimlet, Caesar salad and a New York steak--a perfect meal had been achieved. It was true that the Caesar salad was wonderful, with plenty of garlic and not much salt. And the New York steak was a fine slab of three-inch-high tenderness, seasoned with tobacco onions, cracked black pepper and sour mash bourbon.

However, the more novel dishes are certainly worth exploring too. Tortilla soup, with chunks of chicken and avocado, crispy chips and strings of cheese, was fine. It tasted like a soup rendition of a fabulous cheese enchilada.

A large fresh poblano chile had been blanched, rather than roasted as promised on the menu. But it was still quite tasty, filled with goat cheese and mushrooms, with filaments of tomato sauce.

They have a way here of doing julienne of vegetables--sweet potatoes, carrots, even horseradish--so that they are as thin as darning needles and only the essence of their flavor remains. And the light mashed potatoes are heavenly.

Pennsylvania Dutch braised lamb shank, rarely seen on a menu around here, was a hunk of lusty meat on a big bone. It came with a wonderful cornmeal mush, much like a polenta .

Crispy cornmeal catfish sounded irresistible and tasted all right too, although I had to endure my mother’s shock that I would spend $17.50 on what she called “poor people’s food.” My favorite dish was cedar planked salmon, prepared using a technique borrowed from the American Indians. It had a dreamy creamy chive sauce.

Do not skip dessert here. Brown Betty has to be ordered a half-hour in advance and it comes to the table with steaming hot, thin shavings of sour apples covered with crisp sweet buttered crumbs. A very tempting devil’s food tangerine cake was light on the tangerine and generous with the chocolate.

That’s the Stonehouse: all the familiarity of old home week on the farm (or the Bayou or the range) along with the dazzle and pleasure of sophisticated cooking.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Stonehouse Restaurant at the San Ysidro Ranch, 900 San Ysidro Lane, Montecito, (805) 969-5046, Open every day. Breakfast, 7-10 a.m. lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dinner, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Sunday brunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Major credit cards, full bar. Dinner for two, food only, $53-$80.