Call it home-field advantage

YOU’D have to be a motivational guru like Tony Robbins to persuade friends to drive across town for dinner this week. It’s the annual holiday traffic crush that turns even the smallest excursion into a tortuous ride replete with distracted drivers, death-defying pedestrians and red-light runners, all to the accompaniment of Christmas carols blasting from car radios.

Time, I’d say, to rediscover something close to home -- that little bistro or trattoria, wine bar or updated diner where the biggest hurdle is finding a parking place, not getting from one side of town to the other. Where they’ll be accommodating if you want to add wayward relatives to your party at the last minute, or wheel in a Radio Flyer filled with gifts. Where if you want to dress up as Santa Claus, nobody will look askance.

In Los Feliz, Vermont is just such a spot, a thriving American bistro with a loyal following for its reliable food and lively bar scene. The address, in fact, has a history as a neighborhood institution, originally as Sarno’s bakery and cafe, where there was a piano in the front window and live opera singing, though Sarno’s regulars would hardly recognize the place as it’s been for the last eight years.

This is no simple storefront, but a grand, inviting space with high ceilings and tall white pillars. Potted palms add a bit of greenery and graceful Burmese bowls with conical lids are displayed around the room, almost as sculptures. The white tablecloths look inviting against the burnished leather of the bistro chairs, their curves outlined in brass upholstery studs.

The basic, reliable American bistro menu hasn’t changed much since the beginning. But there are occasional inspired moments, when the kitchen comes through with a terrific special. And once in awhile, the kitchen can have a moment when it turns out something delicious enough to re-invigorate your interest in the restaurant. One night, for example, the special of braised oxtail is absolutely wonderful, the rich meat falling-off-the-bone tender, with delicious gelatinous bits to gnaw on. Slow-simmered in red wine and vegetables, it perfectly suits the season. It’s both comforting and festive.

Owners Michael Gelzhiser and Manuel Mesta definitely had a vision when they took over the space in 1997. There’s certainly no other spot anywhere else on the Eastside that so perfectly looks the part of serious restaurant.

It has a distinctly urban vibe. Part of it’s the location, just north of the all-roads-meet-here intersection of Vermont Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. But it’s also the smokers dining at little tables set outside in the entryway, and the fact that the bus stops just in front, so you can look up from your roasted pear and Gorgonzola salad to see faces in the bus windows sail by.

Inside, the crowd is an eclectic mix of Los Feliz locals -- and that’s eclectic by any standard -- with some tourists, even, as well as academics and bookworms flipping through the pages of their purchases from Skylight Books up the street. It’s a handy place to bring the relatives or business buddies, somewhere that’s lively enough for a first date, but quiet enough to talk.

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Coming into its own

IN the last few years, the food has had its ups and downs. Recently, though, the kitchen seems to have regained its mojo. A meal here is never going to be thrilling, but it can be thoroughly satisfying, which is exactly what’s wanted in a neighborhood restaurant. And when you find a dish that you like, it’s probably going to be on the menu for quite awhile. The adjoining bar is a bonus, too. It’s a long, languorous space romantically lit with elegant milky glass shades, that, as the evening wears on, takes on a life of its own. Come for dinner, stay on for drinks.

To start, the ever-reliable “Michael’s favorite” salad -- Vermont’s take on salade lyonnaise, a bed of wispy frisee scattered with smoky bacon -- is crowned by a soft poached egg, the better to mix the yolk in with the vinaigrette spiked with sherry vinegar. The dressing, though, is a tad too reticent. The flavors might speak up more clearly if the kitchen used a more assertive, aged sherry vinegar.

Beet tartare seasoned with Worcestershire, shallots and capers could benefit by more intensely flavored beets, but only passionate beet fanciers will probably notice the difference. Roasted pear and Gorgonzola salad is so sweet, though, it’s practically dessert.

Soups are rigorously sans butter or cream, i.e., the vegan option. If you like cauliflower or butternut squash pureed to the consistency of baby food, then by all means go ahead and order one. Fortunately, there are better choices for appetizers. Dainty crab cakes swimming in a refreshing gazpacho and topped with a dab of lime aioli are a pleasant surprise, as is the fine composed salad of thinly sliced roasted duck breast on baby greens in a pistachio-dotted miso dressing that has some punch.

The best of the main courses is a prime flatiron steak in a sauce blasted with peppercorns. For anybody who’s ever been disappointed in a timid steak au poivre, this one rocks. Served with sauteed potatoes with caramelized onions, it has more flavor than some of the much pricier steaks I’ve been served at the latest wave of trendy steakhouses.

Seared wild Alaskan halibut or grilled salmon in a mint and mustard-flavored beurre blanc are perfectly decent. And I’m always happy to order the half-chicken, a free-range bird roasted to a deep gold and served with buttered new potatoes. Baby back pork ribs are popular and come with a lovely mixed bean salad. The barbecue sauce is awfully sweet, though, and the ribs are so tender they almost don’t require teeth to eat them. I like a bit more resistance.

The wine list is more sophisticated than it might seem when you first glance at the breathless commentary. (“Think pink!” is the note next to Bonny Doon’s rose Vin Gris de Cigare; “a wonderful food wine” is the description offered for Bridlewood Viognier from the Central Coast.)

In fact, there are actually some interesting choices beyond the usual Chardonnays and Cabs, and prices on the wine list are moderate (as are the menu prices -- the most expensive item is that pepper steak, at $28).

Selections run the gamut from the Bonny Doon to a Talley Chardonnay offered in a half-bottle, a Melville Syrah, which is also available, like many of the wines, by the glass, and Terrabianca Il Tesoro, a Merlot from Italy.

The adjoining bar is known for its inventive, up-to-date cocktails too. On weeknights it’s pretty quiet in there, a good place to go when you want to spend time talking with friends. On the weekends, though, it can be so packed the noise level makes conversation an exercise in frustration. But, hey, the party is here.

Desserts could use some tweaking. Except for the perfect profiteroles, classic choux pastry filled with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with dark chocolate sauce. Get an order to share. Panna cotta has so much gelatin it’s practically petrified. And vanilla custard is too stiff, adorned with caramel sauce that tastes like something from a jar. A swirl of sliced apples on a thin crust looks beautiful, but sometimes the apples aren’t cooked through.

Make that two orders of profiteroles, with some Christmas cheer.

Vermont is that rare thing: a neighborhood restaurant with a real sense of place. It’s so much a part of the Los Feliz scene, in fact, that it’s open every night of the week.

And at this season, more than ever, it pays to eat in the ‘hood to keep your holiday spirit shiny and bright.

*

Vermont

Rating: * 1/2

Location: 1714 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 661-6163.

Ambience: Smart-looking Los Feliz restaurant with vaulted ceilings, potted palms and a loyal crowd. The adjoining bar and lounge is an inviting space for a drink.

Service: Amiable and amazingly fast.

Price: Appetizers, $8 to $16; main courses, $15 to $28; desserts, $6 to $8.

Best dishes: Duck salad, “Michael’s favorite” salad, crab cakes, steamed mussels and clams, pepper steak, braised oxtail (a special), roasted half chicken, profiteroles.

Wine list: A modest, wide-ranging list of wines, many of which are available by the glass. Corkage, $15.

Best table: One of the corner tables in the front window.

Special features: Take-out. Call for dinner selections of the day.

Details: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking, $4.

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.