Too Comfortable : 71 Palm’s interior is charming, but the menu lacks daring.

What is a hot French chef like Didier Poirier doing way out here in downtown Ventura? Well, he’s packing them in.

Along with his wife, interior designer Nanci Kuhn Poirier, he has spent the better part of the last two years restoring a two-story Craftsman-style bungalow on Palm Street. And doing a great job--71 Palm has a wonderfully warm, rich feel.

The main dining room has a roaring fireplace and Deco-style light fixtures that cast a soft, relaxing glow on the room. The many windows are draped with frilly white curtains. Glide up the stairs, holding the brass banisters, and you run smack into a pair of smaller, more intimate dining rooms, perfect if you want to avoid the crowded downstairs.

And it can get crowded. One night five of us made a 7 p.m. reservation, but our party grew to six. In most restaurants, this wouldn’t be a problem; any table that can accommodate five can easily take one more.

But not here. The front desk had shoehorned our party of five onto a standard four-top (to use restaurant lingo), and there was simply no way to add another chair.

There was a happy ending for us. Though the restaurant was packed like a sardine can, the management ultimately saw how impossible our situation was and a second table magically appeared during the appetizers. As a result, the six of us ended up with more elbow room than any other table.

Poirier’s appetizers are pleasant enough but it’s surprising, given his impressive resume (he was chef de cuisine at the very upscale Fennel in Santa Monica), that so few come across as inventive or even terribly impressive.

A grainy country pa^te, complete with little cornichon pickles, was tasty but served too cold. For its stuffed mussels (really, baked in an herbed garlic butter), 71 Palm uses the mealy green-lipped New Zealand variety, though there are plump, flavorful mussels in Santa Barbara.

There is a delicious fish soup, served with a heady, mustard-colored garlic mayo (aioli) and crisp buttery croutons. And everyone likes the full-flavored homemade salami (called by the French name saucisson on the menu), served with a handful of pungent Nicoise olives. But the salads are sloppy--the garlicky Caesar has a watery dressing.

Fish are handled well, if in pretty standard ways. Sauteed white fish Provencal, beautifully cooked, has a lackluster tomato sauce. Better is the salmon, served medium rare on two delicious potato pancakes. My Jewish grandmother would be jealous.

The meat dishes are in the bistro style. There are terrifically tender veal short ribs in a rich gravy. The roast chicken is so-so; a nice beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce comes with strangely over-browned fries. One of our party ordered the chef’s macaroni gratin, and it turned out to be a wonderful, dreamy take on macaroni and cheese.

Dessert is the one area where 71 Palm pulls no punches. The restaurant serves about the most delicious floating island I’ve ever tasted, a fluffy meringue adrift in a creme anglaise sauce. Cherry clafouti, a meltingly smooth pancake-like fruit dessert, is brought to the table hot from the oven.

It’s obvious that Didier Poirier knows food, and that his wife knows how to craft a charming interior. Now the challenge is to the people who patronize their restaurant. As long as 71 Palm can pack them in with these rather basic dishes, daring, creative cooking will remain where it is right now: a long way from here.

BE THERE

71 Palm, 71 N. Palm St., Ventura. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, dinner 5-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Dinner for two, $29-$47. Full bar. Lot or street parking. All major cards. (805) 653-7222. Suggested dishes: fish soup with aioli, $6.50; saucisson plate and olive Nicoise, $4.75; veal short ribs, $13.50; floating island, $4.75.