Heart to Heart, and Soul to Sol

It’s not hard to find Cafe Sol. Just look for a sunny sign amid the undistinguished buildings of North Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

The place apparently has not yet been discovered--a pity because so much care goes into the food. Each plate looks like a picture, even if it’s only a humble half order of crab taquitos. You might quarrel with the use of bright red and green tortillas, but they certainly get your attention; the taquitos shoot out like flares from a bed of field greens. The accompanying tomatillo-avocado salsa is just as spectacular--in flavor, not looks.

A stuffed chile arrives in a flood of tomatillo-cilantro salsa. Alongside, an island of refried beans floats in the same green sea. The beans sport a jaunty red chile flower. Orange tomato sauce peeks out from beneath the chile.

At dinner, plates come garnished with little bundles of herbs such as golden sage, thyme and rosemary plucked from the garden out back. Ceviche--loaded with salmon, sea bass, squid, shrimp and scallops--squeezes into a tall, slim glass. You eat it with a similarly long, slim spoon. Instead of rolls or the usual French bread, the kitchen sends out a basket of sliced baguette and a crock of seasoned diced tomato with which to make your own bruschetta.

Cafe Sol looks upscale for its neighborhood. Fancily folded golden napkins, blue stemware that suggests Mexican handblown glass, well chosen art and walls subtly splashed with color speak of high-end prices. Yet the menu says otherwise. There’s even a corporate lunch that lets you choose a soup or half serving of salad and main dish for $10.50. The salads aren’t lackluster, either. The Margaret salad combines field greens with tomato and orange slices, strawberries, avocado, cucumber and peppery shrimp. There are seafood, Caesar and lamb salads as well as that popular combination of pears, Gorgonzola and spiced pecans.

Cafe Sol is not a Mexican restaurant, despite the quesadillas, taquitos, tamales and chiles rellenos. The proprietor, Alberto Penate, is from El Salvador, and you could just as well have salmon with a crusty coating of pink peppercorns and ginger, a rib-eye steak with garlic mashed potatoes, fettuccine with grilled chicken breast and sun-dried tomatoes or spaghetti with tomatoes and basil.

Honeyed quail with lime--a darkly browned glistening little bird--arrives on a bed of risotto dolled up with raisins and corn kernels. The risotto was heavy and pasty, but perhaps the kitchen was a bit off that night. A leading cookbook author to whom I recommended this restaurant raved about the risottos.

Onion and saffron roasted leg of lamb comes with “creamy” polenta that is not only creamy but also silky and light, much better than the chewy slices of lamb. Duck tamales, a dinner appetizer, are as tender as well-made tamales should be. They’re served with fruit chutney instead of salsa.

Cafe Sol has a wine list, but it’s not easy to choose a bottle that can stand up to the spicy, sweet, tangy and herbal flavors that characterize a meal here. Making a random choice of one of the least expensive wines, I was amazed at how well it complemented the variety of dishes my friends ordered. It was a 1998 Brander Santa Ynez Valley Sauvignon Blanc, for $20.

Desserts range from berries and whipped cream to heady chocolate sweets. A chocolate tart is plain and straightforward, but the “To Die For” brownies are outrageous. I gave up all thought of calories when faced with a warm, moist, hazelnut brownie fancied up with kiwi slices, strawberry sauce, powdered sugar and scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Sunday brunch sounds spectacular: chiles stuffed with cheese, bacon, eggs and bell pepper, banana leaf-wrapped Salvadoran tamales; Yucatecan huevos motulenos or a burrito filled with scrambled eggs, black beans, panela cheese, chorizo and salsa. There are omelets too and main dishes such as chicken croquettes, filet mignon and a seafood and vegetable quiche. You can even partake of, good heavens, a “North Lake Orgy.” This turns out to be nothing more than buttermilk pancakes topped with granola, sliced fruit, yogurt and honey.

BE THERE

Cafe Sol, 1453 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena. (626) 797-9903. Open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday brunch from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. All major credit cards. Wine and beer. Lot or street parking. Dinner for two, food only, about $35.

What to Get: Crab taquitos, chiles rellenos, duck tamales, ginger and pink peppercorn salmon, Margaret salad, “To Die For” brownies.