New resident proves to be a good neighbor

Blair’s is hard to spot from the street, and it had a quiet opening just a month and a half ago. Even so, it’s generated quite a buzz. Chef-owner Marshall Blair used to be sous chef at Water Grill downtown, and he’s just hired Gloria Felix, who cooked at Lucques and A.O.C., as his chef de cuisine. Silver Lake could use a few more good restaurants, so the news has spread quickly.

On a recent night, just as we parked the car on a side street, we noticed a couple strolling down Rowena Avenue, headed for Blair’s doorway. Since it wasn’t exactly early, I took this as a good sign.

Blair’s has a good look. The walls are painted pumpkin, dark wooden Venetian blinds shade the windows, and candles mounted in front of huge mirrors double the light. It’s half bar, half small dining room, and that night every table was taken with groups of friends having dinner together.

It’s a neighborhood place, and prices are moderate compared to similar Westside restaurants. When you can get a shrimp cocktail with curried deviled eggs for $9 or a Caesar salad for $6, that’s a good thing. The shrimp are meaty and the cocktail sauce has real punch. The crab cake is delicious, though a bit on the small side. The bigeye tuna tartare, though, doesn’t hold a candle to Water Grill’s. But then Blair’s has much more modest ambitions.

With about eight appetizers and the same number of main courses, the menu is manageable. You’ve got your chicken, your filet, a vegetarian risotto and fettuccine sauced in cream, Parmesan, peas and a vegetable au jus.

Fish dishes have more flair than most. Tasmanian king salmon comes, for example, with pea shoots, cauliflower florets sauteed in smoked paprika and, on top, a dill chimichurri sauce that perks up the fish. And short ribs, the dish of the moment, are terrific here, glazed with pomegranate, and served with a lovely soft polenta.

Add in a good little wine list and, more unusual, a beer list that includes some savvy Belgian ales and a nonalcoholic Bitburger, and Blair’s is on its way to filling the gap in moderately priced dining in this old Los Angeles neighborhood.

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Blair’s

Where: 2903 Rowena Ave., Silver Lake

When: Dinner, Sundays through Thursdays, 5 to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 5 to 11 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking.

Cost: Appetizers, $5 to $9; main courses, $14 to $28; desserts, $7

Info: (323) 660-1882