New Chef Adds Nice Touches at L’Auberge

There’s good news, good news, good news and quasi-news about the dining room at L’Auberge Del Mar.

The first part of the good news is that this luxury hotel has dropped the name “The Inn L’Auberge Del Mar,” which meant “The Inn the Inn” and was, of course, cloyingly annoying in its redundancy.

More importantly, management of the hotel has been assumed by the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles, a famously deluxe establishment known around the globe for ultra-high standards. Best of all, former Bel-Air chef Gary Slattery has been put in charge of the L’Auberge kitchen, to which he brings a style enormously different from that of his predecessors.

On the quasi-news side (we could unblushingly call this manufactured news), the name of the dining room has been changed to Tourlas, in an attempt to give L’Auberge a history to which it is only incidentally entitled. The current hostelry was built on the site of the historic but long-gone Hotel Del Mar, whose first chef was a Frenchman named Alfred Tourlas. This chef insisted upon fresh foods, and grew greens and herbs on the premises; to restore this tradition, L’Auberge has planted herb gardens for Slattery’s use.

Tourlas would not recognize Slattery’s creations, which belong to the contemporary/California school and are stylish, or elegantly restrained--given the prices, many diners would find the portions small and the garnishes insufficient. But this is handsome cooking, in terms of concepts, flavors and presentations--Slattery’s plates demand that, before digging in, guests pause to admire the consummately artsy arrangement of foods.

For all that, Slattery works with a limited palette. There are five appetizers, two soups, four salads and four entrees--this amounts to considerably less choice than would be expected of a luxury establishment. But diversity exists within these parameters--starters include an extravagant plate of “cornbreaded” crab cakes, poised on a bed of arugula and garnished with a musky-sweet relish of black beans and papaya, and grilled bobwhite quail with a fancy salad of shredded jicama and tortillas.

The appetizer of ahi, seared but basically raw, is quite similar to preparations served at other top places around the county, with the difference of an accompaniment of “Oriental slaw” of shredded carrots, bell peppers and cabbage that is utterly without seasoning or interest. The fish itself, coated at the edges with sesame seeds, is sublimely buttery--but at $7.50, you could ask a little more of this plate.

The baked, marinated artichoke hearts, listed as a salad but appropriate in any starter category, are a rare bit of luxury, given that restaurants dislike the work of dealing with fresh artichokes and rarely serve them for that reason. A rich, savory dish that incidentally includes salad greens, this is well worth trying. Tourlas also offers a quite respectable Caesar salad, a more elaborate salad of hickory-smoked chicken teamed with arugula and walnuts, and a tortilla soup enriched with bits of chicken.

Four entrees would seem less than the requisite number, but these are impressive, and it seems likely that the kitchen can be coaxed to part with a steak if asked politely. On the meat side, the list offers prime rib with baked new potatoes and an elaborate vegetable garnish, and a rack of lamb placed over cous cous (steamed cracked wheat) flavored with apples and arugula, a bitter salad green for which Slattery displays much fondness.

The two fish are undeniably stunning. The first of these, halibut, is coated in pine nuts, sauteed, dressed with a light tomato-basil sauce and arranged over saffron risotto, in deliciously fishy imitation of the veal dish called osso buco . The flavors meld marvelously, and it should be noted that the cooking proceeds with immense care; this is wonderful fish. The sole garnish is a pile of salad greens, however, which makes the serving pretty but insubstantial.

Twin medallions of grilled swordfish arrive piled like building blocks on an “architectural” plate that includes pillar-like formations of crisp Spring rolls stuffed with cashews and shredded pea pods. A spoonful of mild curry sauce accents the lovely flavors of the fish, and to bring the plate together, Slattery adds a small salad of orange segments mixed with shredded red onion and bell pepper. The plate again seems modestly apportioned, if quite, quite handsome.

The dessert list, also brief, includes creme brulee , seasonal berries and a fine, unusual cheese cake flavored with Bailey’s liqueur and, or so it seems, a teasing taste of coconut. This is rich, rich, rich--and quite delicious.

Tourlas

L’Auberge Del Mar, 1540 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar

Calls: 259-1515

Hours: Lunch and dinner daily

Cost: $19 to $24; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $70 to $90