Ramos House Cafe Is on Top of the Morning

Ramos House Cafe is a breakfast-and-lunch-only place in a historic building in the Los Rios district, a row of 19th century wooden houses across the tracks from the Amtrak depot.

If you think that sounds far too cute, go ahead and come with an attitude. This place is going to charm your socks off anyway. It did mine.

The idea of whiling away a weekday morning under a mulberry tree is inviting itself, but when you throw in some of Orange County’s best breakfast and lunch dishes, it becomes irresistible. You dine alfresco on a brick patio simply appointed with metal-framed wooden chairs and unfinished wrought-iron tables.

There is also the option of dining under a huge cactus tree. Wherever you sit, you will surely hear the buzz of bees, the rustle of leaves, the whistle of a train pulling into the station and the contented sounds of people really enjoying themselves in a restaurant.

The restaurant belongs to John Humphries and Lisa Waterman. Last year, the pair, who also have a catering business, pooled their money and bought the house. Humphries is the chef.

His menu is small and changes weekly. It is divided into three sections--morning foods, lunch and sweets--but everything is available all the time, so throw convention out the window, if you feel like it, and have crab cakes at 8 a.m. I did.

Humphries is a gifted baker, so you may be better off starting with a piece of his dense, sugar-dusted blueberry coffeecake--or, better yet, a baking powder biscuit piping-hot-fresh from the oven. These are the best biscuits I’ve tasted in years, so rich they don’t need butter; they crumble to pieces at a touch.

The man also does incredible things with grits. The idea of a bowl of the white cornmeal with dried cherries, raisins and brown sugar is as delicious as it is inspired.

Many of the customers order scrambles, in which the eggs are mixed with three or four ingredients. One is made with smoked turkey, Jack cheese and wild rice, another with spinach, bacon and caramelized onions. Scrambles come with home-fried potatoes, cut in big hunks and nicely browned, but to my mind these are the least interesting dishes Ramos House Cafe serves.

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I’d go for something like basil-cured salmon with herb cheese and light honey-mustard sauce, which is served with several slices of toasted country white bread. Spread the toast with some light green cheese, a fluffy cream cheese spread whipped with tarragon and dill, then crown it with the salmon. The effect is rather like gravlax and wonderfully delicate.

Later in the morning, or perhaps at lunch, you’re likely to be ready to take on the more substantial dishes, but the crab cakes would be a treat at any hour. These crusty, golden-brown cakes are made of fresh crab meat, potato, corn and buttermilk and have the texture of a New England-style fish cake.

Even better, when available, is a dish called shrimp ‘n’ grits with green tomato sauce. I said the chef did wonderful things with grits, and I meant it. This is an amazingly rich creation, a bowlful of grits loaded with rock shrimp, butter and a zingy tomatillo sauce.

The soups are homey Americana. One week there will be a thick corn chowder with lots of potato, another week a white bean soup redolent of smoky bacon. I’ve also tasted one called Joan’s red and yellow tomato soup, a smooth puree with an intense tomato flavor.

The only other dish that isn’t salad or sandwich is duck with dried cherry stew, something you might find in, perhaps, Michigan. This colorful dish is made with the cherries, corn, celery and cubed duck meat. It looks a bit like succotash, and it has a lingering, rustic taste.

On the side comes a green salad liberally sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. The same salad, with the addition of fresh turkey, is also available a la carte, as is a light salad of apples, walnuts and blue cheese.

Smoked turkey appears in a fat sandwich that also includes wild mushrooms. Perhaps the most appealing sandwich, also the most Mediterranean dish on the menu, is seared tuna topped with savory black olives.

Humphries makes all the desserts, which also vary by week. He uses his good biscuits in a warm berry and banana shortcake lavished with a scandalous amount of hand-whipped cream. Look for ginger snaps and apple compote, a tower of three cookies layered with homemade vanilla bean ice cream and spooned with the compote.

I even liked the chocolate walnut banana cake, though my guests thought it dry and heavy. It’s a layer cake with a chocolate walnut topping, surrounded by a little moat of sliced banana.

There are a few good wines available by the glass, plus a variety of espresso drinks and nonalcoholic beverages such as blueberry sage iced tea and freshly squeezed orange juice.

After a visit here, you might stop by the nearby nursery or candle shop or simply stroll around the district, taking in the peaceful charms of a time gone by. As we near the 21st century, it is comforting to discover a historic hide-out for hot biscuits, homemade soup and ice cream from the churn.

Get ‘em while they last.

Ramos House Cafe is moderately priced. Morning foods are $3-$9. Lunch is $3.50-$13.50. Sweets are $5.

* RAMOS HOUSE CAFE

* 31752 Los Rios St., San Juan Capistrano.

* (714) 443-1342.

* Breakfast and lunch 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.

* Visa, MasterCard and American Express.