Topaz Cafe Is Real Gem at Bower’s

Topaz Cafe, in the newly renovated Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, is aptly named. In the evenings, with architect Robert Mechielsen’s quirky lamps shimmering off the cafe’s clay-colored, cave-like walls, the effect is actually like viewing the facets of a gigantic gemstone from the inside. Er, I imagine.

We’ve come to expect such stylish sleight-of-hand from impresario David Wilhelm and his West Coast Restaurant Productions. In the past two years, Wilhelm and company have brought us two creative restaurants, Kachina Cafe in Los Angeles and the elegant Diva in the South Coast Metro area of Costa Mesa. This newest venture, if you’ll forgive me, could be thought of as the jewel in Wilhelm’s crown.

Despite the splendor, decor is simple and functional. There is a civilized amount of space between the tables, themselves surfaced in reddish brown and adorned simply with cactus plants. The chairs are fashioned from a ruddy, solid wood--straight-backed, no-nonsense; not intended for lingering lunch-goers. That’s probably the idea. Ostensibly, you’re here to see the museum.

So much the better. This museum is devoted to African, American Indian and Pacific Rim art, excellent foils for the cafe’s eclectic recipes, many of which draw from American Indian tradition or the Pacific Rim to begin with. So in a way, you can integrate the cultural encounter with lunch. What’s more, these dishes turn out to be ideal cafe foods, mostly sun-soaked with light, whimsical touches.

Head chef at Topaz Cafe is old pro John Sharpe, who was the opening chef at both Bistro 201 (another Wilhelm restaurant, in Irvine) and, most recently, the highly acclaimed Diva. Sharpe, an Englishman (in fact, an authentic Geordie from the city of Newcastle) who trained in Switzerland, is apparently always at the center of the action when this company opens a restaurant.

Fancy that. I’ll wager the Swiss never taught Sharpe red corn taquitos or salmon grilled in a corn husk with pumpkin seed pesto.

Those wishing to have a leisurely, two-course lunch should start with something like the gutsy Caesar salad with herbed six-grain croutons, or the sensational Parmesan polenta with a saute of forest mushrooms. The polenta is presented in a soft, almost airy wedge topped with shaved Parmesan and an ultra-reduced brown sauce enriched with meaty shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Polenta is all too often served the glutinous consistency of leftover Cream of Wheat. This version you could cut with a straw.

Another good choice would be popcorn shrimp--a misleading name for what is essentially a basket of crunchy, medium-sized rock shrimp, lightly dredged in flour before frying. An art-loving friend pronounced the dish the most mundane thing on the menu; I call it the most delicious, because these shrimp have tremendous flavor. The tiny porcelain crock of avocado sauce adds much more than color. Its spicy, flavorful contents round out the flavor of the shrimp nicely.

Bypassing appetizers will lead you directly into sandwiches, larger salads and a variety of carefully conceived entrees. Almost all Wilhelm restaurants serve a state-of-the-art cheeseburger, a gloriously meaty, opulent version made with a choice of Cheddar or blue cheese. I’m less thrilled with the cafe’s corned beef Reuben, though. At its best, a Reuben tends to be pretty greasy; this one manages to be unreasonably dry.

Choosing a lunch salad catches the kitchen adding grilled chicken to the already filling Caesar, or chicken smoked with apple wood to a classic Cobb. But the kitchen makes better use of smoked chicken in the entrees, employing the mildly bittersweet meat in such dishes as the smoked chicken, corn and mushroom quesadilla or, better yet, the terrific red corn taquitos.

The humble taquito, a rolled cylinder of cornmeal typically stuffed with shredded beef, has never tasted better than this. There are half a dozen of them on the plate, shaped like egg rolls with a crackling exterior but a soft filling, alongside some great black beans, a wandering trail of avocado sauce and a mound of the trademark sweet corn pudding Wilhelm serves at his Zuni Grill and Kachina restaurants.

My favorite dish here has to be the magnificent filet of salmon grilled in corn husk with green chili and pumpkin seed pesto. The fish is fine and firm, with a grainy sauce reminiscent of the salsa pipian in which chicken is commonly stewed in Mexico.

Not everything is so recherche , of course. The Topaz vegetable plate is simply vegetables, which might range from fennel to waxy yellow beans. Good roast baby chicken comes atop silky mashed potatoes, all drizzled with a brown garlic sauce. The firm-fleshed roasted sea bass has the same potato base, but the fish is dressed with a whole grain mustard sauce and a flurry of lightly fried onions.

Occasionally Sharpe trots out specials, too, often themed foods in harmony with whatever happens to be going on in the museum. One evening (the restaurant is open for dinner two nights a week) he featured two Thai dishes, a light tom yam soup made with chicken and crab and a dish of spinach noodles with rock shrimp and lemon grass. Both were splendid, although admittedly prepared with a Western sensibility. I can’t wait to try his take on West African food, if that’s ever on the agenda.

Wilhelm’s restaurants are big on desserts, from the Belgian chocolate souffle at Bistro 201 to the pinon-pecan pie you can eat at Kachina. Here you get things such as hot white chocolate and raspberry souffle, a sticky sweet apple-hazelnut crisp with warm caramel sauce and the fabulous chocolate brioche pudding with whipped cream, a confection that literally sweats butter.

I’m having one of those and then taking the rest of the day off. There’s only so much culture you can absorb in an afternoon.

Topaz Cafe is moderately priced. Appetizers, soups and salads are $3.50 to $7.95. Sandwiches and large salads are $7.75 to $8.95. Entrees are $7.95 to $11.95. Desserts are $3.50 to $5.95.

* Topaz Cafe

* 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana.

* (714) 835-2002.

* Lunch Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; dinner Thursday and Friday, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.; brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

* American Express, Diner’s Club, MasterCard and Visa accepted.