OC LIVE! : RESTAURANTS : 230 Forest Avenue Finds a Big Market in Laguna

The summer tourist crunch is about over in Laguna Beach, and it’s time for the locals to start their annual return to the town’s restaurants. 230 Forest Avenue--the name, as well as the address, of one hot new establishment--is already showing signs of being one of this year’s major attractions. It’s been elbow-to-elbow in this arty space since Day One almost two months ago.

Some will remember when this location was the Forest Avenue Market, where picnickers used to pick up sandwiches on their way to the beach. Architect Mark Singer and his Peruvian-born wife, Miriam, have made it nearly as gallery-like as most of the other storefronts on the street. (The Singers are co-owners, along with Jules Swimmer and a second couple, Terry and Richard Rothbard.)

Appointments are tasteful and predictably Laguna-esque. You pass through plate-glass portals and then shuffle over a hard concrete floor--fashionable, though noisy. The tables, consisting of richly stained cherrywood slats, are neatly arranged along two of the walls. It’s a nice look, but it doesn’t leave much room for the waitresses. Service can be hectic.

Curmudgeons, or those simply wishing to avoid the shoulder-to-shoulder seating, can repair to the bar, where four stools sit mostly unoccupied during peak hours.

The kitchen is run by 24-year-old Marc Cohen, recruited from the Blue Ridge Grill in Alexandria, Va. The fellow has talent and a lot of youthful enthusiasm. Some of his ideas, such as the sesame grilled chicken sandwich, with its understated pineapple relish, work like a charm. Others cry out for restraint.

When the shops and galleries on Forest Avenue are open for business, the neighborhood is jumping, so the lunchtime line at 230’s front podium won’t be going away soon. That’s the breaks; some of Cohen’s best efforts are definitely more appropriate for lunch than dinner. One is Caesar salad with Asiago cheese crisp, a colorful green salad offset by a sculptured tuile of baked cheese, which arches up splendidly from the center of the plate. If the greens had more anchovy and less oil, they would be a fitting companion.

Cohen is from Baltimore, which gives him the pedigree for preparing oysters. His tempting oyster po’ boy is halfway between a New Orleans oyster loaf and a Philadelphia hoagie. Very fresh fried oysters in a baguette is one of those ideas that can’t miss. Add Cohen’s tart tomato compote, and you’ve got a major sandwich.

Appetizers include a pyramid of ahi tartare with a red onion, parsley and whole-grain mustard dressing, and a quasi-Thai dish Cohen calls grilled sesame chicken with rice wine peanut sauce. A safe bet is Maine “rope” mussels (they don’t taste like rope--they’re cultivated on ropes hung in the water) in a rich saffron broth. However, the “trio of minced mushrooms” (portobello, shiitake and crimini) swim in an overly reduced, oppressively rich garlic balsamic glace .

By contrast, Cohen’s salmon and mussel stew with white beans and smoked bacon is more delicate than hearty. The chef simmers the salmon and mussels in a vegetable and shellfish stock, making a light “stew” that’s more like poached seafood. At the same time, the bacon adds smokiness and the beans give a rustic quality.

His grilled sweet onion soup is topped with a sort of conceptual art jumble of fried fettuccine. The soup has a heady aroma, but it’s surprisingly sweet from the natural sugar in the onions. The fettuccine are--well, pretty to look at.

Generally, Cohen’s pastas are overcooked and overindulgent. The minced trio of mushrooms we met earlier as an appetizer appear again as a fine pasta topping, especially for a stand-up noodle like penne, but the kitchen needs to use less of it. Pasta with fresh grilled vegetables has a topping that’s mostly zucchini with a red and yellow pepper coulis . Spicy lemon caper shrimp scampi is great on linguine, though, thanks to lots of fat, nicely cooked shrimps.

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At dinner, the entrees are a tossup. Cohen really knows how to blacken a piece of catfish, so I wish he would leave well enough alone. Instead, it comes crowded on a plate with cheese rice, chipotle butter and a mountain of vegetables. All these elements are good enough individually, but together, they look like refugees from a buffet line.

A better bet is the tender full rack of apple jack-smoked baby back ribs, which comes with garlic mashed potatoes and crisp onion straws. Filet mignon is marinated in Burgundy before it hits the grill, and the roasted garlic, mushroom and tomato glace places the accent on the beef, where it belongs.

Cohen makes a few desserts, but none really stands out. Neither of the menu’s cakes--white chocolate cheesecake and chocolate seduction cake--is made on the premises. Among the four desserts that are, try the red wine poached pear with two sauces and the creme caramel with fresh berries, both simple, straightforward pleasures.

When the tourist season hits next year, the owners are going to wish they had converted a supermarket.

230 Forest Avenue is moderate to expensive. Appetizers are $5.25 to $8.95. Salads are $3.95 to $11.95. Pastas are $8.95 to $14.95. Entrees are $9.95 to $20.95.

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* 230 FOREST AVENUE

* 230 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach.

* (714) 494-2545.

* Open daily. Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner, 5 to 10 p.m.

* Visa, MasterCard and American Express.