A Rocky Start

Ever since chefs buffeted by the costs of running their high-end restaurants discovered that even more people would come--and come more often--to a lower-priced spinoff, they’ve been hatching new restaurant concepts. Wolfgang Puck seems to have an endless supply of them, with Nobu Matsuhisa and Joachim Splichal not far behind. Now comes Hans Rockenwagner with Rock in Marina del Rey.

The idea grew out of chef/owner Rockenwagner’s now famous Tuesday night stammtisch at Santa Monica’s Rockenwagner, at which a growing and ever more eclectic group of regulars--from writers and surgeons to artists and business mavens--gathers around one large table (that’s what stammtisch means, the table for regulars) to drink, talk or share a meal.

Not everyone wants a serious three- or four-course meal every time they go to a restaurant. Hence, Rock, where you don’t need to reserve days in advance, where you can drop in for tapas at the bar, or bring friends and family to share robust country dishes from all over the world.

The space in the Villa Marina Marketplace that was once Angeli Mare has been reconfigured into one big room with a bar at the front and a semi-open kitchen at the back. That’s where Rock’s best table may be--beneath Ingo Maurer’s whimsical lamp shaded by scraps of paper scrawled with poetry and fragments of sayings--an imaginative do-it-yourself chandelier. The high ceiling is painted a deep cobalt blue, a color that seems to eat light, making the glow from the huge white globes grouped overhead too dim to read the menu easily. Large booths run along one wall. Tables were made by Rockenwagner, an avid woodworker. And yes, he’s built a long communal table, too, for the stammtisch crowd. Despite the bright oranges and yellows and colorful ceramic plates in display cases along one wall, Rock looks more like a school dining hall dressed up for a party.

Rockenwagner is joined by his wife, Patti, in this venture. Her family is Korean, and she grew up in Argentina, so it’s no mystery why baby bok choy kimchi, mandu (pot stickers) and South American specialties are mixed in with dishes from California and the Mediterranean.

Your waiter will present that night’s dozen or so tapas (Spain’s “little dishes”) on a tray. Some are delicious--the little balls of homemade mozzarella bathed in olive oil and herbs, Spanish pickled white anchovies or the cipolline onions roasted in balsamic vinegar. Sometimes items taste as if they’ve been refrigerated too long, or, like a beet salad one night, don’t have enough flavor.

The strategy to take is to load up on appetizers, which tend to be better than main courses. Crunchy fried calamari comes with a vibrant Catalan romesco dipping sauce--a combination of pounded almonds, dried peppers, garlic and olive oil. Risotto croquettes (rice balls) have a little molten fontina cheese tucked inside. One night there’s a terrific little salt cod and potato casserole topped with bread crumbs. But an Alsatian onion and bacon tart hasn’t been cooked long enough to set.

Instead of pizza, which you can get at Antica Pizzeria upstairs, Rock offers rustic ciabatta (that’s “slipper” in Italian)--freshly baked flatbread with inventive toppings. Best is the escarole and boquerones (those pickled white anchovies) with its earthy bitterness, followed closely by the lemon-cured salmon, garnished with creme franche and tobiko caviar on ciabatta dough flavored with potato and dill.

Rock’s menu is large, and not every dish is well-conceived or well-executed. While nobody is expecting the food to be as beautifully plated as it is at Rockenwagner, the presentation here is not always careful or appetizing.

Main courses include both “big dishes” served family-style for two or more, or “plates for one.” The latter includes Rockenwagner’s Pretzel burger (with a soggy bun) and very ordinary French fries, Korean-marinated flank steak with cabbage kimchi and sticky rice (the best dish on the menu), and a sorry veal schnitzel that’s both greasy and tasteless. When the schnitzel arrives with French fries, my homesick Austrian friend shakes her head sadly, saying, “That’s something only kids would eat.”

If you can agree on a family-style dish to order, no one will go home hungry. The roast chicken is enormous but not that tasty. And what’s the idea of scattering virtually raw flower-cut carrots over the accompanying potatoes? Catalans like to cook thin noodles (fideus) like risotto. But Rock’s version is awful: The noodles are overcooked, and the seafood isn’t the best or the freshest. And someone has strewn crunchy, almost raw green beans over the top. Even the mixed platter of grilled sausages could use better sausages. Quantity rules over quality.

For some, the generous and very sweet desserts may redeem the evening. Sticky sweet bunuelos with rum caramel sauce and rum raisin ice cream make a messy treat. And if you love sundaes of the kitchen sink variety, Rock’s features ice cream, walnut fudge squares, profiteroles, whipped cream and quite a good fudge sauce.

Though this spinoff has gotten off to a somewhat rocky start, able chef Rockenwagner and/or Patti have been there every night I’ve dropped in, and so I’d like to think the chances of the food improving are better than average.

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Rock

CUISINE: World. AMBIENCE: Booths and long communal table; huge open room with lights that float above like balloons. BEST DISHES: Escarole ciabatta, lemon-cured salmon ciabatta, fried calamari, house-made mozzarella balls, Korean-style flank steak, bunuelos. WINE PICKS: 1997 Flowers Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast; 1997 Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard, Napa Valley. FACTS: Villa Marina Marketplace, 13455 Maxella Ave., Marina del Rey; (310) 822-8979. Lunch weekdays. Dinner daily. Appetizers, $5 to $10. Main courses, $10 to $16. Corkage, $12. Parking in Villa Marina Marketplace.