Wanderful World

French-Vietnamese chef Andre Lechien has been a true culinary Odysseus. Here’s hoping his wanderings are over.

In France, he worked in three-star restaurants such as Joel Robuchon, Marc Veyrat, Paul Bocuse and Bernard Loiseau.

Since then, he has (a) had his own restaurant on Balboa Island, (b) done stints in Los Angeles with Michel Richard and Wolfgang Puck, (c) worked as executive chef at upscale Indochinese restaurant Le Colonial, (d) been executive chef at Book Soup on Sunset Strip and, now, (e) returned to Orange County, where he cooks at Andre in Laguna Beach in the old Kachina location.

To my mind, his new digs are extremely attractive. The dining room is a subterranean space just below an art gallery. Just outside the entrance there’s a small sitting area, where you can sip port or smoke a fat cigar after dinner. It’s quite a civilized arrangement.

The interior has a personality that I’d describe as assertive but not overbearing. The walls are painted a relaxing bluish gray, a muted color that does not distract from the palette of colors on the plates. The tables sport bamboo flower holders, and the high-backed wicker chairs have a distinctly Asian cast.

Lighting is provided by porthole-shaped lanterns set into the walls, giving a vague impression of the dining room on a passenger ship.

The soundtrack is resolutely French, consisting mostly of soft ballads by Lechien’s favorite balladeers--Joe Dassin, Charles Aznavour and Georges Moustaki.

If there are touches of Asia in the decor, that is doubly true in what comes from the kitchen. One evening, four of us started with a delicate amuse-gueule consisting of beautiful petal-shaped Maine diver scallops served as sashimi and sprinkled with a mixture of saffron and coriander. On another occasion, the chef sent out zucchini flowers stuffed with an emince of wild mushrooms for a wonderful, feather-light starter.

Many appetizers from the menu are fusion in its truest form. Les famueuses crevettes de Mike Z are gorgeous jumbo prawns lightly coated with a spice mixture that includes hints of cinnamon, coriander, Chinese five-spice powder and the Vietnamese herb ngo gai. Shrimp also feature in an exquisite soup flavored with saffron, kaffir lime leaves, fennel, mushrooms, tomatoes, ginger and lemon grass.

Not everything on the menu leans so heavily toward Asia. Lechien makes the best French onion soup I’ve tasted, extra-beefy stock enriched with red and white onions and topped with a homemade crouton smothered in melted Gruyere. In a terrific salad, sugar-sweet beets mingle with mesclun greens and a perfectly balanced balsamic vinaigrette. For another appetizer, gently roasted quail is boned, wrapped in salty grape leaves and rubbed with a light watercress sabayon.

The chef is more traditional with his entrees. The most Asian-tinged is Chilean sea bass wrapped in cabbage; the flavor of the fish is dominated by an infusion of lemon grass (a somewhat jarring combination). More typical is poached salmon with an earthy leek fondue, though I don’t much care for its side dish, potatoes mashed with Granny Smith apples, gummy and sweet.

The duck breast (magret de canard), cooked medium rare and sliced thin, is also rather sweet, though in this case the tastes are so beguiling that the dish works well. The slices are drizzled with a honey sauce flavored with star anise, then sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, like some exotic Chinese barbecue. The side dishes on this plate--baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms--match the duck intelligently.

Lechien roasts free-range chicken skillfully and serves it with a nice timbale of squash and a light Chardonnay morel sauce.

La piece de boeuf Laguna Art Museum is a well-marbled filet mignon topped with a flawless truffle sauce, paired with delicious horseradish mashed potatoes.

Perhaps the best classic French preparation on Andre’s menu is a lean, tender rack of lamb, served with a wild mushroom tartlet and a rich rosemary demi-glace.

In spite of the unassailable talent of the chef, a few things need work. The kitchen slows noticeably when the restaurant is busy, and much of the dessert list is uninspiring. Lechien makes a fairly average tarte Tatin and a merely nice creme bru^lee. Time permitting, though, he will produce crepes irresistibly filled with a mixture of Cointreau and ginger cream.

Andre recently received a beer and wine license, so you no longer have to bring your own. Ask for the Captain’s List, stocked with boutique California producers and first growth Bordeaux, if you are not on a budget.

It remains to be seen whether Andre will catch on in busy Laguna. Now that summer is nearly over, most of the fish taco and deep-dish pizza crowd has gone home, returning this town to the locals, and that might bode well for Andre, which failed to find a niche with the vacation hordes.

If a restaurant such as 230 Forest Avenue, just next door, can play to capacity crowds nightly, there is no justice at all if a talented chef such as Lechien has to wonder where his next reservation is coming from.

Not that it matters. There will always be a place for a chef like Andre Lechien.

Andre is expensive. First courses are $6 to $10.95. Entrees are $17.75 to $22.95.

BE THERE

Andre, 222 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. (949) 494-7224. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 6-11 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 6-11:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. All major credit cards.