RESTAURANT REVIEW : Diversity in the Desert : The varied bistro menu at Bakery Express includes savory antipastos, crusty breads and rich desserts.

The spirit is willing at Bakery Express Cafe. The flesh, unless otherwise specified, is medium well.

That’s not to say that this Palmdale establish ment--owned by Bob and Linda Ginsburg, a couple with an obvious passion for cooking--isn’t a star in the Antelope Valley restaurant constellation. Its only real rival up here, in terms of creativity, is the estimable Downtown Cakes and Company in Lancaster.

Downtown Cakes and Company actually led me to Bakery Express, because I included it in a couple of Valley Top 20 restaurant lists, and in doing so provoked a flood of letters in praise of Bakery Express Cafe. So I phoned the place and asked what sort of restaurant it was. Bob Ginsburg hemmed and hawed, and finally characterized it as a “continental bistro.”

Now that I’ve eaten here, I understand why he hesitated. No designation, except perhaps the overworked “eclectic,” would do justice to the Ginsburgs’ highly personal style, which spans a territory from northern Italy to the American Southwest. These people cook what they like--terrific breads, oddball appetizers, meat-rich main dishes and sumptuous desserts--but in so individual a manner that it defies category.

Be prepared for a serious whiteout on entering. This brightly lit place has white wood walls, white tabletops and white chairs. The dazzle of the walls is broken only by posters of things designed to make you hungry--pasta shapes, green onions--and a decorative assortment of wicker baskets. The seating is a little tight, but the room is so cheerful that you probably won’t mind.

One appetizer deserving praise is the fried cheese antipasto plate. Its rounds of soft goat cheese and sticks of pungent smoked mozzarella are lightly breaded and fried warm and soft. The garnish is artichokes, roasted peppers and a punchy heap of sun-dried tomato pesto.

Another is the New Orleans garlic shrimp, which looks and tastes suspiciously like something you get in a New England chowder house under the name of baked stuffed shrimp. Imagine four medium shrimp, baked in a scallop shell in a bath of buttery, garlic-flavored bread crumbs. You’ll be scraping the crumbs off the shell, mainly to capture the faint flavors of sherry and chopped green onions in the mix.

Fried homemade ravioli is a dish popular in St. Louis, although here the ravioli are filled with spinach and ricotta instead of ground meat. And here, alas, the dough has been rolled too thick. The best thing on the plate is a fine sauce made from fire-roasted poblano chiles--even if the sauce and ravioli filling do clash mightily. Let’s call this a noble failure.

Among the entrees, some of the meats are distinctly overcooked. Beef bourguignonne, for instance, comes in a pretty little crock topped with an attractive crust of whipped potatoes. But the beef inside is frazzled onto the sides.

A nice center-cut pork chop has those same good potatoes, plus a tart green apple puree and a thick, creamy pan gravy to embellish it. Too bad we hadn’t yet figured out that the kitchen’s vice is overcooking, because we got it dry and tough. This would probably be an excellent dish if you asked for it medium.

One evening the chef’s mixed grill was chicken, shrimp, salmon and Italian sausage, and all of them would have benefited from less time on the range. But oddly, given the American tendency to overcook pasta, our wild mushroom and chicken linguine escaped the wrath of the stove. The noodles came with a nice al dente texture, the hearty chicken and mushroom topping was soft and flavorful.

The fire-roasted chile on the cheese appetizer plate also turns up as a main dish, stuffed with a curious mixture of minced chicken, various Mexican cheeses and Southwestern spices. I find it tasty but rather mushy.

There’s no problem when it comes to breads or desserts. Linda Ginsburg appears to be a top-notch baker, as attested by her tender, yeasty wheat bread and crusty country white bread, served with all meals. Her dessert case, too, is filled with rich pastries.

The best of them might be the exemplary strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. Light eaters can order a lemon souffle, but if you want rich, they’ve got that too. Pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake has a dense cheese filling, while turtle torte is a fudgy pie laced with caramel and pieces of pecan.

WHERE AND WHEN

Location: Bakery Express Cafe, 1050 E. Palmdale Blvd., Palmdale.

Suggested Dishes: Fried cheese antipasto plate, $4.50; New Orleans garlic shrimp, $5.50; center-cut pork chop, $8.95; strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, $2.75.

Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9 p.m. Friday. Closed Saturday and Sunday.

Price: Dinner for two, $22-$37. Beer and wine only. Parking lot. American Express, MasterCard and Visa.

Call: (805) 267-CAFE.