All Over the Map

When Tom Hanks wanted to recreate early ‘60s Erie, Pa., for “That Thing You Do,” he headed 40 miles south to Orange Plaza, and he couldn’t have picked a more charmingly retro place.

So when the cool, contemporary Citrus City Grille opened among the antique stores there in 1996, it seemed at first as anachronistic as Richie Cunningham calling Potsie on a cell phone. But over the years, it has brought some much-needed hipness and style to the plaza.

The Grille remains possibly the coolest place to eat, drink and generally hang in central O.C. The large airy room features a gorgeous, sparkling bar and open kitchen arching in a crescent along one side.

With an industrial-style cement floor and a high ceiling, the restaurant is awash in a cacophony of conversation.

In the summer, the patio provides access to an active street scene. You can be served here at lunch, but night is when the Citrus City Grille really comes alive.

The perfect way to start an evening here is with a cocktail from an extensive list featuring martinis made from four major distilled beverage groups: vodka, gin, rum and tequila. I had an excellent cosmopolitan and I got a kick out of the Balboa Beach Martini, a concoction of Gray Goose vodka, cranberry juice, Triple Sec and lime juice with a twist of lemon.

You’ll need a couple of drinks in order to navigate the giddy menu. Co-owner Stephano Xeno said his restaurant serves “contemporary American cuisine with a touch of Mediterranean flavors.” These are mere code words; whoever developed this menu took the “It’s a Small World” approach--a little bit from Asia, a little bit from the South and a little bit from Italy and France. The center does not hold here.

For example, the appetizers are all over the place. There’s wild mushroom polenta, ahi marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger, Brie baked in puff pastry with (uh-oh) strawberry wine sauce.

The entrees are all over the place too: Chilean sea bass with oyster and lemongrass sauce, grilled pork loin chop in fig-balsamic demiglace, good old meatloaf. This United Nations of Food approach rarely works, but I can’t condemn Citrus City, because all the dishes I tried had at least some redeeming value.

Some were positively good, too. Among the appetizers, I really enjoyed the spring rolls, which were packed with crisp sauteed vegetables and came with a sweet oyster dipping sauce. One appetizer special, perfectly fresh sauteed calamari, had a light sauce of white wine, lemon juice and Tabasco teeming with capers and diced tomatoes. I appreciated the inventive approach to this often tired appetizer.

On the other hand, the special crab cakes, though they could boast meaty patties, had a bland breaded flavor.

The pasta dishes are generally spared this menu schizophrenia. The rich ricotta ravioli comes in a tasty tomato sauce laden with artichokes and Gorgonzola cheese. (For some reason, Gorgonzola is featured in many dishes here.)

My favorite is the shrimp rotini with asparagus and Gorgonzola (see what I mean?) and Romano cheeses. The corkscrew rotini noodles are OK, but the light, buttery sauce is intoxicating, and the shrimp really add some depth to the dish.

The entrees are divided into fish and meat categories, with the seafood side offering the most diverse options. The Chilean sea bass was light and flaky, and the weird-sounding oyster and lemon sauce did nothing to harm its subtle flavors, though it didn’t add much, either. All this came on a bed of couscous.

More culture blending occurs with the blackened ahi. The slab of fish is crusted with Cajun spices and seared on both sides. It’s nice fish--or would be, if you could taste it; the overpowering Cajun spices will make you grab for a glass of water. A beet-ginger sauce also shares the plate for no apparent purpose other than adding some flavor to a bed of jasmine rice.

The much more steady meat selections offer no such surprises. A thick, grilled pork loin chop is perfectly matched with a fig/balsamic vinegar demiglace, and the meatloaf (a hearty chunk) is an excellent stick-to-your-ribs option. Of course, at $16 it had better be.

Each week, there’s a filet-cut steak special at $24. The one I tried came topped with melted Gorgonzola (they must buy the stuff in bulk) and a wine reduction sauce. There isn’t much to say about the bland sauce, but the aged prime steak was absolutely sublime. I enjoyed it with a very smooth Merlot from Buttonwood Vineyards; just one of life’s simple pleasures.

Xeno has told me that he will be expanding his menu later this month to add more variety and lower-priced options. So changes are afoot, but will they bring some stability to a menu that despite some highlights is still in search of an identity? Considering what the Citrus City Grille adds to the neighborhood and the central county dining scene, let’s hope so.

BE THERE

Citrus City Grille, 122 N. Glassell St., Orange. (714) 639-9600. Open Tuesday-Saturday. Lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner from 5-10 p.m. Dinner appetizers: $6 to $12. Pastas: $12 to $18. Dinner entrees: $13 to $24.