Food With a View

If I’m going to Santa Barbara for the day, I don’t need much persuading to leave early enough for lunch at La Super Rica on Milpas Street. Deciding where to have dinner is just about as easy. Though I’ve tried many of the new restaurants, I keep coming back to Citronelle, the Michel Richard restaurant at the Santa Barbara Inn--which is, as it happens, at the other end of Milpas Street. Opened in 1992 as the first offshoot of Richard’s Citrus in Los Angeles, Citronelle still stands out here for its appealing French-California cuisine under chef de cuisine Felicien Cueff.

The window-lined upstairs dining room is stunning at dusk, with its view of slender palm trees swaying against the blue of the sea and sky. Woven-cane armchairs, dark ceiling fans and crisp, white linens give the room a laid-back elegance reminiscent of the French Caribbean. Waiters in long-sleeved shirts and colorful patterned ties are efficient and professional. A window at the back of the room gives a glimpse into the kitchen, but no one really pays much attention. The beachfront is too compelling, even at night, when all you can see are the palms’ fringe in the moonlight.

Restaurants with a view aren’t usually good bets for fine dining. But Cueff’s solid, well-executed cooking is an exception. And if you choose one of the prix fixe menus or the businessman’s lunch, Citronelle offers good value for the money.

Something as ordinary-sounding as smoked salmon terrine turns out to be a pinstriped layering of velvety smoked salmon, a rich salmon mousse, cream and herbs. With a flurry of salad greens and cucumber crescents dressed in cream and fresh dill, it makes a lovely appetizer. “Porcupine’ shrimp are superbly fresh Santa Barbara shrimp in a mane of kataif, a Middle Eastern pastry that looks like shredded wheat. The shaggy shrimp look preposterous, but eating all that crunch with the sweet, firm shrimp beneath is actually kind of fun. And the accompanying celery remoulade has a real mustard kick to it. Another night, soft-shell crab (ordered a la carte from the five-course prix fixe menu) is dressed up in kataif, too. But this time the pastry makes it difficult to taste the nuances of the crab--and the juicy crab is why I ordered the dish in the first place. More successful is a very good Dungeness crab salad of lump crab meat in just enough aioli vinaigrette to bind it together.

I’m generally not one to count calories and order spa dishes, but I tried Cueff’s virtuous Norwegian salmon, baked till it’s just custardy, with a soft leek crust pressed on top. It’s delicious in a light, pale chive sauce. Grilled swordfish is enhanced by earthy beans in a fragrant pesto sauce. You can also get something as simple and satisfying as veal roast with mashed potatoes and horseradish-spiked meat juices or a roasted duck in cranberry sauce that, for once, is not too sweet. Everybody does lamb chops, but Cueff takes the lamb loin, encases it in a forcemeat of lamb and herbs, then wraps it in lacy caul fat that melts away in the cooking. Couscous bathed in gently spiced and aromatic juices is a wonderful accompaniment. Steer clear of the lamb shank, however. It’s boned, molded into a cylinder and sauced with a veal reduction as thick and dark as hot fudge.

Desserts don’t always measure up to Citrus’. The crunchy napoleon isn’t as polished: The creme brulee between the crunchy layers is thicker, and the butterscotch sauce is applied with too much abandon. And lime meringue pie with a good tart lime curd is marred by tough pastry. Better are the berry tart on a Linzer torte crust spiked with sweet spices, a dark-chocolate cup filled with “cappuccino’ mousse and whipped cream, and the fragile leaves of feuillete layered with strawberries and cream.

Citronelle is one Santa Barbara restaurant that has managed to avoid most of the cliches and excesses of California cuisine. Factor in that soothing view, a decent wine list (a better selection of Central Coast wines, please) and attentive service, and this restaurant, at 5 years old, still adds a certain sophistication and elan to the local dining scene.

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CITRONELLE

CUISINE: French-California. AMBIENCE: Cane chairs, ceiling fans and beach view. BEST DISHES: Salmon terrine, “porcupine’ shrimp, baked salmon, lamb loin, berry tart. WINE PICK: 1993 Chteau La Louviere, Graves. FACTS: Santa Barbara Inn, 901 E. Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara; (805) 963-0111. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Dinner for two, food only, $70 to $90; prix fixe menus, $37 and $48. Corkage $12. Free valet parking.