A little bohemian, a lot Californian

HOW California is this? At Firefly Bistro in South Pasadena, the entire dining room is a breezy tent like the ones extended families rent for boisterous weddings and anniversary celebrations. The entrance is a pergola of grapevines hung with whimsical glass ornaments. On warm days the canvas sides are pulled back to reveal vines clambering over brick walls and urns spilling over with ivy and flowering plants. On chillier evenings, portable heaters are enlisted to warm up the room.

The tent’s roof high overhead is the support for theatrical lights and cheery orange paper lanterns. And a voluminous mossy green chiffon curtain lifted from Philippe Starck’s book of tricks softens the contours of the back walls. The kitchen is actually in a small free-standing building to one side.

Though everyone is seated at separate tables, just like a regular restaurant, the oddball nature of the setting creates a festive feeling. People feel comfortable enough to lean over and start a conversation at the next table. The pretext could be the wine, what to order or even the book set aside once the food arrives.

This somewhat bohemian restaurant is the new project of Monique King, former executive chef at Border Grill, and her husband, Paul Rosenbluh, who was King’s sous chef at her Chicago restaurant Soul Kitchen. The food at Firefly Bistro is California cuisine at its most exuberant. King subscribes to the more ingredients the merrier school of cooking. And though her inspiration comes from all over the globe, she doesn’t pull any punches in terms of flavor. You might see pecan-coated catfish or grilled pork chop with fresh corn spoon bread on the same menu as Moroccan vegetable tagine or a Mexican-accented crispy pork dumpling.

I kept wondering where I’d seen the affable maitre d’ before. That Hawaiian shirt could be confusing things, I mused. Maybe he wore a tux in his previous position. But no, one of my friends in the movie business set me straight: That’s character actor Carl Weintraub. I’d say he’s got this role down pat. Though when he pronounces every dish wonderful, maybe, just maybe, he should fess up that he’s the chef’s proud papa (and a partner).

If this is California, the menu must have salads. Early on, these encompassed a delightful variation on spinach salad made with roasted cherries, Maytag blue cheese and smoked bacon-thyme vinaigrette. Now there’s a salad of grilled Belgian endive embellished with roasted baby beets, caramelized pears and toasted fresh walnuts. The pears are intensified with a vinaigrette made with pear cider. What a lovely idea.

The source of those baby beets is the farmers market. Thursday nights, as you arrive for dinner, the market in front, which lasts from 4 to 8 p.m. each week, will be winding down. If you want to shop, though, be sure to arrive before 7. After that, it’s leaner pickings.

Firefly Bistro’s latest menu is high-spirited and fun, the best yet from this young restaurant. You can start with ceviche of pretty little rock shrimp and pineapple dosed with lime and a chipotle salsa that really rocks, or else a single hauntingly spiced grilled quail with a velvety plum sauce. Diminutive Dungeness crab fritters are set off by a delicate pale avocado cream and a blast of house-made hot sauce. My favorite appetizer, though, is the heat-seeking Firefly shrimp served with a soothing mint yogurt, a dollop of mango chutney and a demure chickpea salad.

Among the main courses is a Moroccan spiced chicken breast with a smear of bright red harissa and silky salty-sharp preserved lemons and pickled dried apricot halves. Each plate is well thought out. For example, a beautifully fresh piece of Virginia striped bass is sauteed and placed on a swirl of soba noodles spiked with coconut cream and cilantro. Spicy Chinese long beans take up the minor theme. King and crew also turn out a respectable paella loaded with shellfish, calamari, chicken and, in a smart departure, andouille sausage.

One night the entree everybody at my table wishes they’d ordered is the lamb sirloin, grilled to a perfect medium-rare and served with sweet potatoes laced with caramelized garlic and Brussels sprouts that taste so fresh they could have been picked off the garden wall.

The key to this menu’s success is that it doesn’t overreach what the kitchen can accomplish with the staff and the space available. So, too, Firefly Bistro’s modest, but somewhat eclectic all-California wine list is in tune with a neighborhood place like this. It includes a good number of choices for less than $30, including the 2000 Pacific Rim dry Riesling, a good match for spicy dishes.

Desserts ride squarely in the comfort zone, with a liquid-center chocolate cake embellished with vanilla bean ice cream and, not to gild the lily or anything, caramelized bananas. I’m less fond of the gooey sweet chocolate-hazelnut fritters. An ice cream terrine striped with Zinfandel-stained pear neatly bridges summer and fall. And every day, the pastry chef dreams up another pudding. Best yet? The maple flan with dainty ginger cookies.

On a Sunday morning, the tent liberated to the breeze is a terrific spot for brunch. The coffee is good and strong; the foam on the cappuccino doesn’t stick to your nose, and the menu easily moves from breakfast into lunch. Hearty souls (those who already have done their biking or running) can dig into grilled skirt steak and eggs with fresh tomato salad or order the fluffy buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy with a cup of coffee (that’s on the side). OJ, though, doesn’t taste as fresh as it could.

A highly touted ricotta tart fresh from the oven is delicious, all but hidden by a fluff of greens and other garnishes. A simpler presentation would let it shine. And, I have to say it, it’s a surprise to find such generic breakfast tacos on a menu from someone who cooked at Border Grill. I like the scrambled eggs and potato filling, but the black beans are dry and taste unseasoned. The wan salsa is just diced tomatoes, a little cilantro and a timid dose of chile.

It’s hard to fathom, too, why slices of chilly unripe brie are, with spinach and asparagus, considered an essential component of the green goddess omelet. But that’s California cuisine for you. It’s more the kind of dish you’d expect to find at an earnest wine country bed and breakfast.

The book group at the next table who linger over brunch discussing Richard Russo’s latest novel and their lives, says it all. This is a place where no one feels rushed, where a son can bring his mother for brunch, where a little girl can twirl around the room in her sundress while her parents polish off the last of that ricotta tart.

If every neighborhood restaurant were as amiable and engaging as this one, we’d all be thrilled to stroll up the block for dinner.

By keeping their ambitions focused and considering what the neighborhood really needs -- and it’s not another serious French restaurant or trendy sushi bar -- King and Rosenbluh have a South Pasadena hit.

*

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Firefly Bistro

Rating: **

Location: 1009 El Centro Ave., South Pasadena; (626) 441-2443.

Ambience: Eclectic global cuisine in a festive white tent with canvas sides that pull back to let in the breeze.

Service: Personable and attentive.

Price: Dinner appetizers, $5.50 to $9.75; main courses, $14 to $23.50; desserts, $5.75 to $6.50; lunch items, $5.50 to $13; brunch items, $6.75 to $15.

Best dishes: Shrimp omelet, ricotta tart, rock shrimp ceviche, Firefly shrimp, five-spice grilled quail, Moroccan spiced chicken breast, Virginia striped bass with soba noodles, grilled lamb sirloin, pudding and cookies, Zinfandel-pear ice cream terrine.

Wine list: Modest but somewhat eclectic selection of California wines. Corkage $7 for bottles not on their list. If it is, leave the bottle at home: It’s not allowed.

Best table: Next to the “windows,” when the canvas sides are pulled back.

Details: Open for dinner Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. Lunch, Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Brunch, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Monday. Street parking. Beer and wine only.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.