RESTAURANT REVIEW : At L’Ecluse, the Wine’s the Thing

Tucked a few blocks north of the main drag in Pasadena’s Old Town, Bistro L’Ecluse is a quiet refuge for wine lovers and any other bistro fans. (There’s a chain of Parisian wine bars called L’Ecluse and the word itself means someone who can hold his liquor.)

Bistro L’Ecluse was opened 10 months ago by Kathy Klein, who formerly owned L’Ecluse, a wine shop specializing in quality wines under $20.

In a long, narrow storefront, this bistro has pure, lemon-colored walls, and a high, open trussed ceilings painted a deep, restful plant-green. This same alluring super-saturated color is found in the large, vintage French posters hung along one wall. There’s a long bar, spotless mirrors, small tables set with stemware. And if you just want to curl up with a glass of Sauternes and read back issues of the Wine Spectator, a couch and table lamp wait for you.

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There are also many shelves of wine grouped according to variety. (In the tradition of neighborhood bistros in rural France, Bistro L’Ecluse offers no comprehensive wine list. A weekly selection of wines-by-the-glass pairs specific wines with particular menu items: For example, a domestic Syrah or a Crozes-Hermitage from the Northern Rho^ne is the suggested accompaniment to braised lamb shanks. If an entire bottle is desired, customers are urged to browse the shelves and chose one and/or consult with the agreeable wait staff.

The menu offers classic bistro fare, much of it spiked with an appropriate dose of vin .

Gorgeously tender black mussels have been lightly steamed in a white wine broth rich with garlic. Onion soup, topped with sharp, bubbling Gruyere, has a robust meaty broth. Sober and puzzling, however, is a cold cucumber soup, more a coarse cucumber puree that’s topped with a thin dry toast and strips of tasty house-cured salmon.

The salad selection is nicely varied: Belgian endive sprinkled with creamy Roquefort, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette; mixed greens with goat cheese and slightly hard pear slices; fresh spinach with egg and smoky lardons. . . .

Despite an admirably subtle blackberry Pinot Noir sauce, pan-roasted rack of lamb has been cooked well beyond an ideal medium rareness. Better, I found, to order the intentionally long-cooked, beautifully caramelized lamb shanks presented in a lake of white beans laced with garlic and tomato and a good kick of wine.

A dish with similar virtues is a breaded and crisped whitefish served atop fragrant yellow lentils planted with small swirls of citrus vinaigrette that hit like a series of flavor bombs. Sweet large scallops are deftly, barely cooked; too bad that the spinach linguine was boiled too long and is falling-apart soft.

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Bistro L’Ecluse has recently opened on Sunday afternoons until 8 p.m., with a limited menu--i.e., just the things you might well feel like eating on a food-rich weekend--cheese and fruit plates, appetizers, nothing that requires firing up the oven.

I had a bowl of that terrific onion soup and a New Age croque Monsieur (chicken, tomato, cheese and hot, hot, hot mustard on a length of good, crusty house-made baguette, served hot with the cheese melting). It came with a refreshing little green salad. My friend had an appetizer of the respectable house-cured salmon with goat cheese and cream cheese, then a slice of creamy green vegetable quiche.

Warm apple tart with ice cream is dull. Po^t au chocolat , the chef’s “surprise” is a basic chocolate pudding. The glassy top of a creme bru^lee is ingeniously slicked with Port, which soon seeps in appealing rivulets into the rich creamy custard beneath.

Every Tuesday at Bistro L’Ecluse is “Meet Me in Paris” night, which features a three-course dinner with French Champagne for $49.95 per couple. Wednesdays are Bistro night, with a three-course meal and a third of a liter of wine for $19.95 per person.

The regular dinner menu is also available on these nights.

* Bistro L’Ecluse, 36 Holly St., Pasadena. (818) 793-3723. Open Tuesdays through Saturdays for dinner. Open Sunday afternoons and evening with a limited menu. Wine served. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $36-$65.