STYLE / RESTAURANTS : A POCKET WORTH PICKING

When the space next door to Orange County’s coolly elegant Gustaf Anders became available, chef Ulf Anders Strandberg told his partner, Wilhelm Gustaf Magnuson, that he wanted to turn it into a bakficka, or “back pocket,” the Swedish term for a casual place attached to a high-end restaurant. At first, Magnuson couldn’t envision it. But with a little design sleight of hand, Strandberg, whose good taste extends from the kitchen to the dining room, has transformed the awkward space into a handsome, informal restaurant with appealingly rustic food.

In one corner, a young cook slides terra-cotta casseroles into a wood-burning oven framed in blue and white tiles. Beside it, mahogany-skinned chickens and a juicy, mustard-and-honey-smeared pork loin turn on a rotisserie. On the counter, herbs, spices and condiments are laid out like a painter’s palette.

Back Pocket’s 3-month-old menu is a single page: six appetizers, plus a handful of small and large entrees from the oven or rotisserie. But first come breads so fresh that I could make an entire meal of them: crisp house-made flatbread and Strandberg’s soft, yeasty rolls, flavored with caraway, onions or anise.

For herring lovers, the serve-yourself buffet offers strongly salted matjes herring, sharp, vinegary Icelandic herring cured in onions and allspice and, my favorite, herring cured in a lemon-and-Absolut Citron-spiked brine. Gravad lax, one of Gustaf Anders’ specialties, is satiny and moist cured salmon. And the Caesar salad may be the best I’ve ever had, pale hearts of romaine draped with sumptuous anchovy, diced tomato and just enough creamy dressing.

One night I order the special, a platter of heads-on “peel and eat” shrimp, so many that they completely obscure the ice underneath. Slipping off the shells and biting into these briny pink shrimp, each with a skein of rich, salty roe, is absorbing work. They can be eaten plain, with a drop of lemon or dipped in a sweet hot mustard sauce laced with fresh dill. Another day, the special is a crusty potato pancake stuffed with whole shrimp, incredibly satisfying with a cool creme frai^che thickened with cod roe and dill.

Strandberg, still experimenting with the wood-fired oven, approaches food with an easy playfulness. I love his thyme-scented slices of roast leg of lamb, subtly smoky and presented with firm white beans, haricots verts and a puckery pickled beet. He cooks sea bass in an earthenware cazuela, with spinach and lemon, swimming in a fragrant tomato broth. When you order chicken, half a rotisserie chicken redolent with garlic and thyme is crisped in the oven next to glowing embers. A juicy slab of the glazed pork loin, cooked with prunes, apricots and arugula, gets its smoky edge from that oven. Rib-eye steak, at $17 the priciest item, is full-flavored, a bit fatty, wonderfully rare.

There is lighter fare as well. Baked cheese and black olive sandwichis a sort of inspired calzone, bread dough gathered around a filling of molten cheese and black-purple olives. And baked gravad lax sandwich is more like a pizza, a supple round of dough topped with Gustaf Anders’ house-cured gravad lax.

As for desserts, I have a penchant for the Swedish princess cake, a marvelous confection of yellow cake layered with barely sweetened whipped cream and strawberry jam, the whole thing enrobed in a pale green sheet of marzipan. Also worth ordering are the tender Swedish pancakes dabbed with crimson lingonberries and topped with a scoop of ice cream, and a fabulous chocolate pecan tart with a buttery crust. But best of all is the light puff pastry with whipped cream and sliced bananas in a stupendous burnt-sugar caramel sauce.

Wines by the glass are interesting and refreshing choices--Nalle Zinfandel, for example, or Au Bon Climat Chardonnay--and served in good stemware. Everything on Gustaf Anders’ quite terrific wine list is available, too. To finish, espresso served in handmade cups glazed the color of new grass arrives with a slender strand of lemon peel tied in a graceful knot.

Considerable thought has gone into every detail of the dining experience. Tables are polished hardwood. Comfortable cherrywood armchairs have seats upholstered in the deep blue of the North Sea. Placemats are herringbone linen; the table lamps, silver. There’s nothing slapdash about the service either; the same well-trained waiters work both places, watching out for Back Pocket with as much tenderness as they would a younger sibling.

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BACK POCKET

CUISINE: California. AMBIENCE: stylish adjunct to Gustaf Anders with wood-fired oven. BEST DISHES: herring buffet, pork loin, banana puff pastry. WINE PICK: Peter Michael Sauvignon Blanc, 1992. FACTS: South Coast Village, 1651 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana; (714) 668-1737. Closed Sunday lunch. Dinner for two, food only, $42 to $65. Corkage $10. Parking in lot.