‘Best’ Wishes

Michael’s Best, which advertises “unique Continental cuisine” on its large pink sign, does not put its best foot forward. The main dining room has the faded, down-at-the-heels ambience of the grande salle of an older hotel somewhere in Eastern Europe, and the big windows make it a sun trap during the day. But if you ask to be seated in the smaller dining room, generally reserved for private parties, the restaurant becomes almost magically inviting.

Chef Miguel Romo comes from Santa Monica’s DC3, and his cooking is ambitious--even a bit too ambitious for a restaurant just starting out, perhaps. At lunch, when Michael’s Best serves good sandwiches and hearty salads (e.g., a terrific Mexican-style grilled turkey salad with a well-balanced ancho chile vinaigrette), there are usually a fair number of diners. But the dinner crowd simply hasn’t discovered this restaurant yet, and the place is often undeservedly empty in the evenings.

Everyone starts with a basket of sourdough rolls hot from the oven. There are several good appetizers. A potage of pureed carrots, yellow squash and chicken stock is both tasty and filling. Smooth, crusty crab cakes come three to an order, drizzled with cilantro mayonnaise on a bed of mesclun greens.

*

Blackened shrimp are served astride nicely seasoned couscous, though the shrimp themselves seem a little tired; they need more zip. The one dish on this menu I would avoid is lobster ravioli, very chewy pasta with a pale orange seafood-based filling that barely hints at lobster.

But the main dishes are perfectly good--in fact, at these prices, a lot better than we have a right to expect. One of the best is a grilled pork chop that the chef has cleverly sliced in half and stuffed with delicious Italian sausage forcemeat. Another good one is a nice piece of roasted salmon served on top of a pile of couscous, an idea that works like a charm.

There is a giant braised lamb shank, properly tender and paired with buttery mashed potatoes. I’d also give high marks to the New York strip steak, which is topped with truffle-infused maitre d’hotel butter.

One or two surprises await you at dessert. First off, Romo makes a mean souffle, which he serves with a bowl of whipped cream laced with chocolate bits. Then there is his excellent chocolate croissant bread pudding and an honest creme bru^lee with strawberries and a dense, crackling sugar top.

There is nothing wrong with this restaurant that couldn’t be cured by a little neighborhood support.

BE THERE

Michael’s Best, 8326 Winnetka Ave., Winnetka. Open 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m., daily. No alcohol. Parking lot. All major cards. Dinner for two, $33-$55. Suggested dishes: grilled turkey salad, $8.25; crab cakes, $9.50; roasted salmon, $14.95; grilled pork chop, $14.50. Call (818) 727-9241.