Restaurants : Golden Truffle’s Chef Is Master of Improvisation

No Orange County chef cooks up the element of surprise with more success than Alan Greeley, owner of the Golden Truffle.

Greeley is a sort of Renaissance man: chef, poet, wine buff and motorcycle enthusiast. That’s him charging out of his kitchen in stained chef’s whites. Often he’s charging out to clap one of his favored guests on the back, and then to work out the details of a special menu. Chances are, the menu he dreams up will be one of a kind.

There is a printed menu at Golden Truffle, but Greeley uses it the way a jazz musician uses sheet music. My favorite meals here have been off-menu improvisations, and the best news is that you don’t have to be a regular--Greeley will perform this service for just about anyone. The only requirement is a serious attitude, something the chef determines instinctively while staring you straight in the eye. I passed the test on my very first visit, nine years ago.

Umm, I think I passed, but with at least one restriction. A few weeks back, I lunched at Golden Truffle with a friend. “Tell the chef we’ll eat whatever he recommends,” I told our waiter, “but make sure he knows that we absolutely have to be finished in an hour and 15 minutes.”

Shortly thereafter a parade of specials began: crunchy swordfish tacos with green cabbage and spicy mayonnaise, a delicate black and white truffle risotto, seared sea bass with three sauces, pungent curried lamb chops and finally, a spectacular ice carving filled with tropical sorbets--he calls it his “snow cone.”

I ate the last two courses alone, since my friend had dashed off to a business appointment after the fish.

Greeley came out as I was finishing. “What happened to your friend?” he asked. The moral: You don’t rush the great ones.

Four of us--unburdened with prior commitments--enjoyed a subsequent dinner to the fullest. Greeley outdid himself.

For a first course, he prepared a caviar-studded salmon tartare accompanied by thinly shaved beef carpaccio sprinkled with truffle oil and a pungent mustard sauce. The tartare glistened pale green with fruity extra-virgin olive oil.

Next came duck enchilada with green olives, a delicious dish. The “tortilla” was a pancake that tasted of buckwheat flour, while the flavors of the hearty duck ragout inside were intensified by a green tomatillo reduction and salty chopped olives. That was followed by a grainy risotto made with blue shrimp, some blood-rare Sonoma lamb chops served with truffled mashed potatoes and the coup de grace , a fruit plate decorated with edible gold leaf.

Two meals, nearly a dozen surprises. And each meal appropriately punctuated by the presence of either gold or truffles.

Ordering from the menu is an altogether different matter. As you might have guessed, Greeley’s menu is highly eclectic, an edible amalgam of Thailand, Jamaica, the Mediterranean, Japan and Newport Beach.

Who else would have the audacity to dream up a dish such as lobster and shrimp leek dumplings with saffron chile sauce and Caribbean pickles, and then have the skill to bring it off? The tempting, chewy ravioli are just neutral enough to balance the chile and pickles. Strangely, the flavors all work in unison.

His Caesar salad with a twist is a bit too cheesy for my taste, but the lettuce is crisp and the anchovies assertive. I like the added richness provided by the curious addition of a fried, basted egg, served sunny side up. Salad lovers have long appreciated Greeley’s Jamaican jerk chicken salad. It’s made with a piquant sauce that the chef bottles and sells.

Spicy mixed greens with shiitake fritters and lobster vinaigrette is another hit. The greens mingle with tiny chunks of lobster meat, and the accompanying mushroom fritters have the authority of good tempura. Unfortunately, this salad is not scheduled to be held over when the menu is changed later this month.

One standout entree is the 16-ounce prime Angus filet in the style of Ayrton Senna. There’s a touching story behind the filet. Race car legend Dan Gurney has been a lifelong friend of the chef, and through Gurney, Greeley has come to entertain many world-class race drivers. Senna was the world’s No. 1 racer when he was killed last year.

He was Brazilian, and like many of his countrymen, he liked his steaks spicy. Greeley had invented a hot sauce especially for him just before his death on the Formula One circuit. It’s a complex, delicious sauce, and a nice tribute to a universally admired man.

Other good entrees include lamb loin grilled on kiawe wood with roasted Mediterranean vegetables and “pot roast a la Mom and a glass of Dad’s Cabernet.” Order the rustic, bubbly pot roast and you get to choose one of the dozens of wonderful wines at Golden Truffle. Go for the ’91 Groot Constantia Cabernet, a South African wine that complements the pot roast splendidly (by itself it’s $6 a glass, but a glass comes with the pot roast).

The wine list here is intelligent and provocative, showcasing boutique wines such as Kistler Chardonnay and Drouhin Pinot Noir from Oregon, both for less than $35. But across from the kitchen, a glass case filled with treasures like Diamond Creek Cabernets from the late ‘70s, a collection of top Barolos and dozens of international rarities underscore just how serious the proprietor is about the whole food and wine experience.

You can’t really know this, of course, until you’ve looked right back into Greeley’s eye yourself and caught a glimpse of his fine madness. After that, the surprises cannot be too far behind.

The Golden Truffle is expensive. Appetizers are $4.50 to $10.50. Main courses are $9.25 to $28.

* THE GOLDEN TRUFFLE

* 1767 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach.

* (714) 645-9858.

* Lunch, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; dinner 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

* All major cards.