At Capistrano Depot, the Trains Come on the Side

“Where’s the real train station?” asked a man in a gray designer suit, standing at the front of the Capistrano Depot.

A hostess gestured toward the restaurant’s glass atrium. “You catch the train right over there, hon,” she said, not missing a beat.

At the moment of this exchange, I happened to be standing just a few feet away from where a commuter train was about to come whizzing by. Trains are visible from almost any point in the Capistrano Depot, which is a working restaurant.

And, I might add, a lovely one, all brick, rough-hewn stone and handsome stained wood. The rustic ceiling beams and wrought-iron chandeliers look as if they could have been in place since the days of Huntington and Crocker.

Past the front entryway is a main seating area framed by large windows looking out on the tracks. To the right is a handful of intimate little candle-lit dining rooms.

The building itself is a century old. Food of some sort has always been available here, but the Capistrano Depot is easily the building’s most distinguished restaurant in memory.

Executive chef Dennis Burrage and his partner, manager Roger Crawford, deserve the credit. Burrage, the son of a butcher and grandson of a well-known chef, is an old hand at classic American dishes. Crawford is a veteran of more than 35 restaurants, including Five Crowns in Corona del Mar.

When Burrage cooked at Le Club restaurant in L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, he made a name for himself with dishes that were comforting as well as creative. His menu at the Depot is definitely on the conservative side but rarely staid.

I wish he’d do more appetizers like his trademark sauteed roasted garlic spinach, and fewer in the Southwestern style, which is not his strongest suit.

Southwestern rules the appetizer list, though; Burrage recently removed a distinctive and delicious asparagus crown with roasted eggplant compote from the menu but left a familiar eight-layer bean dip on it. Reached by phone, he told me the current menu suits San Juan Capistrano. I’m not so sure; the locals might be ready for Beverly Hills after all.

I’m still tasting that wonderful spinach appetizer, anyway. It’s a mound of spinach in a puddle of richly reduced vegetable broth, laced with roasted garlic cloves and topped with melted shavings of imported Parmesan.

Grilled black tiger shrimp is another of Burrage’s best starters. The chef coats the shrimp in a gingery spice mixture that reminds me of Jamaican jerk seasoning. It comes with a delicious relish of white corn in cilantro vinaigrette.

Entrees come with soup or a choice of salads--say, a cheesy Caesar or a nice mixed green salad with thick dressing. The soups I’ve tried have been intriguing. The broccoli cheese soup was American in spirit but very smooth, caressing the palate like a French farmhouse potage.

One evening Burrage offered a version of vegetable beef soup unlike any I’d ever had. It didn’t look promising; the broth was on the light side, and the only distinct vegetables were bite-sized pieces of carrot. But at the bottom of the bowl--surprise!--was two or three ounces of smoky shaved roast beef, making for one of the beefiest soups around.

Burrage dresses up his steaks, probably the best entrees here, with hard-to-resist side dishes. Certified Angus New York steak is seasoned with cracked pepper and served with terrific whipped potatoes and Maui onion rings.

An Angus top sirloin, the menu’s best deal at $13.95, is rubbed with fresh herbs and garlic and set on grilled mashed potato pancakes. If you don’t feel like beef, consider the pork chop. It’s double-thick and nicely accompanied by wilted greens, mashed potatoes and cooking juices.

You don’t have to be a red-meat eater to enjoy the Depot. The grilled vegetable Napoleon is a clever plateful of layered eggplant, zucchini and thinly sliced potato, served in a tomatoey sauce and topped with “leek hay,” the menu’s term for fried shredded leeks.

A hearty rigatoni pasta is mixed up with pepperoni, roasted garlic, jalapenos, tomato and shaved Romano cheese. The only dish that misses the mark is the oven-roasted chicken breast. It’s a bit dry and the tomato “sauce”--better described as a chunky tomato side dish--is rather tart.

Burrage’s desserts are unusual, and unusually good. I’m crazy about his pecan brownie and its semisweet chocolate sauce, and the people at the table next to mine lapped it up like frenzied kittens. The brownie itself is a dense square with a crunchy top. Inside, it’s almost mousse-like in texture and loaded with crushed pecans.

The bread pudding is almost like a French diplomat pudding, a plush dome loaded with currants and drenched in warm whiskey-caramel sauce. And Burrage’s ginger creme bru^lee is about the best around. It’s a delicate custard topped by a caramel crust and filled with brandied cherries.

Don’t get overly revved up when you see the heading “homemade sorbets and ice creams.” Haagen-Dazs manufactures the ice creams for this restaurant, and if it doesn’t truly qualify as homemade, the product is certainly good enough to put on top of a brownie.

When I take my next train trip to San Diego, I know exactly where to stop for a meal en route.

The Capistrano Depot is expensive. Appetizers are $5.25 to $7. Salads are $3.25 to $7.75. Sandwiches are $5.50 to $7.95. Pastas and entrees are $7.75 to $18.25. Desserts are $3.95 to $4.50.

* THE CAPISTRANO DEPOT

* 26701 Verdugo St., San Juan Capistrano.

* (714) 488-7600.

* Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.- 11 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.-10 p.m.

* All major cards.