For Rockenwagner, one room isn’t enough

IN April, after closing briefly, Hans Rockenwagner unveiled the latest version of Rockenwagner, his long-running Santa Monica restaurant. It now has the words Restaurant & Brasserie appended to the name, but the change goes much deeper. In a smart move, he’s split the room in two, with the bulk of the warm whimsical space devoted to the more casual and moderately priced Brasserie. And he still has accommodated fine dining -- in a small, 30-seat dining room built inside the Brasserie.

Most of the little touches that make Rockenwagner such a wonderfully eccentric restaurant are still there -- the skewed wine rack, the shaggy logs affixed to the walls and Rockenwagner’s charming collection of vintage salt and pepper shakers displayed in wood cases he built himself. There’s now a little bar where you can sit if you just want to have a glass of wine and an appetizer or two, or even hunker down with a burger if you’re alone.

In fact, the entire place is rather like the chef: warm, rough-hewn, friendly. After an apprenticeship in Germany and work in Switzerland, Rockenwagner cooked in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles in 1984 to open Rockenwagner. Over the years, he’s continually tinkered with the concept and retooled the space. So far, the new incarnation, with almost entirely new menus, is a popular success.

On a weeknight, the Brasserie is packed with a lively, interesting group, mostly big tables, but also the occasional table for two. Honey-colored wood paneling and wood-veneer lampshades that glow red give the room a cozy feeling.

Affordable yet ambitious

I brought along some friends who hadn’t been to Rockenwagner in years and when they opened the Brasserie menu, they were shocked at the prices -- they’re so low. All the main courses are less than $20 and most appetizers are less than $10. It’s much more affordable than the old menu, which, for most people, made the Rockenwagner more of a special occasion restaurant.

Now it’s more of an international brasserie with French dishes, German classics, the occasional pasta and Asian-accented dish. Some are wonderful, but it’s a big menu and the kitchen doesn’t have it entirely under control.

One of the best items is the pretzel burger, which the chef has offered for years. How hard is it to find a great burger in L.A.? Hard. What makes this one special is the bun, basically a pretzel roll that stands up to the juicy burger. It comes with crackling-crisp fries, all the fixings and German-style mustard. Another of my favorites is the weisswurst, a mild, fine-textured veal sausage that arrives floating in hot water in a two-eared white porcelain bowl. Again, it’s that pretzel bread and the grainy sweet Bavarian mustard that make this special. Not to mention the fact that you don’t find weisswurst of this or any quality on many menus. It’s delicious and it’s just $6.95.

Rockenwagner imports his Black Forest ham directly from Germany. If we’re lucky, white asparagus season may last one more week. If so, don’t pass up the pound of steamed white asparagus with their marvelously sweet grassy taste, served with earthy new potatoes and, if you like, pink curls of the slightly smoky ham. Rockenwagner slices it on a red machine that’s more than 70 years old. It does a superb job, cutting ham, prosciutto and salame so finely you can practically read through them.

If you want a little pampering, you can’t go wrong with the terrine of foie gras with plump little rafts of toasted bread. It’s smooth and silky, and terrifically satisfying. Roasted beet salad or the frisee with lardons are good choices too.

And as for main courses, or even a first to share, I vote for the moules frites, a bowlful of small, plump bouchot mussels from France in a swirl of shallots and wine, again with a heap of crisp fries. That and the pretzel burger are enough to bring me back. There’s also a fine plate of spaghetti with clams, and a Niman ranch pork chop with mashed potatoes, though the time I tried it the chop was a little dry. A special of tender veal medallions outshines the veal goulash another night.

Some of the other more conceptual dishes fall a bit flat. Caramelized tomato tart, for example. Somewhere beneath the caramelized onion and tomato is a swatch of soggy crust. And the scoop of strong blue cheese mousse on top doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the other flavors. Grilled flank steak can be wonderful, but this one would be better off entirely naked rather than doused with such an extremely salty bourbon sauce.

A changing menu

The menu changes fairly often, giving the kitchen the chance to replace less successful dishes with better ones. And with a dozen first courses and the same number of second courses, you can almost always find something you’d want to eat.

Another plus is an interesting, wide-ranging wine list put together by Rockenwagner’s wife and business partner, Patti, which includes a nice selection of wines by the glass. She’s one of the more knowledgeable wine buyers around when it comes to German or Austrian wines and has some stunning bottles on the list, such as F.X. Pichler’s 1999 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd “M”. There’s even a rose from the North Fork of Long Island called Potato Barn, the first I’ve seen. She also has a nifty list of more than a dozen dessert wines, some by the glass, from California, Germany, Austria and Alsace.

For dessert, try the fondue for two. That’s chocolate fondue, dark and dreamy, served with a platter of chocolate cake, homemade marshmallows, pineapple, strawberries and more for dipping.

Amid the bustle of the Brasserie, there are usually just a handful of people secluded inside the more formal dining room. One night, our table of four was the only one occupied, with two servers to wait on us. There are two prix fixe menus in the Restaurant: a traditional tasting menu that changes every few weeks, and a seasonal menu, which was white asparagus on the night I tried it.

Rockenwagner has gone to great lengths to make the experience as distinct from the Brasserie as possible. He’s bought Rosenthal porcelain in dramatic shapes, and made wood trays and serving items himself. When the meat course arrives, Philippe Starck flatware is presented on a wooden easel beside your plate.

Rockenwagner and chef de cuisine Colby Garrelts have thrown out the old menu and are starting from scratch. I enjoyed diver scallop layered with crisp cucumbers and paired with salty sweet salmon roe in a citrus sauce, or the simplicity of three warm Kumamoto oysters napped with a Champagne-shallot emulsion. But foie gras de torchon with late harvest Riesling gelee elicited raves.

The seasonal white asparagus menu featured a lovely white asparagus “cappuccino,” a soup served in an ornate espresso cup with a cap of foam. But course after course of white asparagus begins to feel contrived and none are better than the simple steamed asparagus served in the Brasserie. The main course, though, is veal medallions with morels and cream, which is everything it should be. And dessert is a sumptuous rhubarb and strawberry compote topped with a crumpled piece of Tunisian pastry called feuille de brik -- it looks as if it were designed by Frank Gehry.

It remains to be seen if enough of the regulars who miss the old Rockenwagner will sign up for the fine dining room. Given the empty seats so far, I can’t see how it’s going to work.

But on the Brasserie side, the new concept seems to be a raging success. The neighborhood needs a place like this, and I think the chef needs it just as much. He’s a very social guy and with a less demanding menu, he has the freedom to occasionally step out of the kitchen and into the life of the restaurant.

*

Rockenwagner Restaurant & Brasserie

Rating: **

Location: 2435 Main St., Santa Monica; (310) 399-6504.

Ambience: Casual neighborhood brasserie with outdoor seating, a bar for small bites or lone diners and a more formal inner room reserved for prix fixe tasting menus.

Service: Friendly and efficient.

Price: Brasserie appetizers, $6.75 to $17.50; mains, $14.50 to $18.75; desserts, $6.50 to $8.50. Traditional tasting menu, $85 per person; seasonal menu, $68.

Best dishes: Weisswurst with pretzel roll, Black Forest ham, terrine de foie gras, moules frites, spaghetti and clams, Niman Ranch pork chop, pretzel burger, chocolate fondue.

Wine list: Interesting and wide-ranging, with an especially good selection of Austrian and German wines. Corkage, $12.

Best table: The cozy banquette beneath the mirror.

Special feature: A separate dining room constructed inside the brasserie, which serves more elaborate prix fixe menus.

Details: Brasserie open for dinner, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Happy hour Sunday through Friday, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Restaurant open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner (seatings 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.). Reservations required for restaurant. Valet parking, $3.50.

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.