Health Over Flavor at 442

Is it a good idea to fill a chile relleno with tofu instead of cheese? Not really, but as the saying goes, it’s the thought that counts. The people at the new 442 Restaurant want to feed you healthy food; they want to serve you food that is, as one waitress described it, “just full of flavor.” In time, they may get what they want, but so far, let’s just say 442’s flavors need time to develop.

Certainly, 442 is a pleasant place to sit. Set in a space that was once a Yugoslav restaurant, 442 shows no sense of its past. Like so many recent nightclubs, the narrow restaurant has a pseudo-baroque gold-leafed tables, burnished walls, lots of cushions. Service is good. The menu is full of appealing-sounding dishes--crab cakes, grilled shrimp with pesto, catfish stuffed with mushroom duxelles and poached in a shiitake mushroom broth. Many of the dishes are low-fat and dairy-free. So you’re disappointed when potato-garlic-spinach knishes come out with a scorched garlic taste, and when the dish called “penne with lots of things” has lots too many things. The “crispy chicken,” however, is moist and good--and fried. Is it a coincidence that it’s probably the least-healthy thing on the menu?

* 442 Restaurant, 442 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 651-4421. Entrees $8.95 to $16.95.