Garlicky, not gimmicky

Squeezing a soft, golden roasted garlic clove from its papery shell onto my baguette, I’m delighted by its heady aroma and looking forward to the next several courses. I’m about to indulge in “garlic fusion cuisine,” a concept that might seem silly -- as if borrowed from an over-the-top garlic festival -- if I weren’t sitting in Gorikee, a modest neighborhood restaurant in Woodland Hills. Here, the phrase is used to describe the polished Cal-Mediterranean cuisine of chef-owner Atsuhiro Tsuji, a 10-year alum of Chaya Venice.

Loosely translated from Japanese, gorikee implies a powerhouse or great forcefulness. And it describes the wonderfully odiferous garlic cloves used -- judiciously -- by the Japanese-born, classically French-trained chef. There’s nothing gimmicky about Tsuji’s cooking, and area residents, happy not to have to drive over the hill to get food of this caliber, keep his place packed.

Intent on having his own establishment, Tsuji has risked opening where you’d least expect to find him: behind a row of chain restaurants, at the far end of a generic suburban shopping center, next to a funky bar.

But Gorikee does have a certain goofy charm. The knotty-pine walls and light-wood tables put in by the former tenant (Big Al’s Barbecue) have been embellished with some paintings by local artists and a few kitschy garlic artifacts such as the stuffed satin bulb sitting by the entryway. Clearly, the main attraction here is Tsuji’s food.

Seasonal offerings

Gorikee’s short menu is a basic platform around which the chef adds creative daily specials. Two chalkboards list seasonal offerings and what I think of as mini food festivals. In the spring, for instance, small placards appeared on the tables defining lamb terminology such as yearling, mutton and baby lamb. Half a dozen specials, each beautifully designed to showcase the meat’s delicate flavor, included lamb pot stickers with yuzu dipping sauce, grilled loin in a balsamic reduction and braised shank in a raspberry sauce based on a glossy glace de viand.

You can see the chef’s formal French training in almost every dish. Even the Caribbean-esque coconut shrimp one evening was underpinned with a classic stock reduction based on the crustaceans.

Gorikee’s appetizers balance customer favorites with the creative whims of Tsuji. You’ll notice the signature appetizer on most tables: three voluptuous garlic bulbs roasted to a burnished gold with cloves so soft they spread like caramelized garlic jam. A frequent special of soft-shell crab cooked tempura-style is served over a sake-soy reduction and garnished with swirls of wasabi mayonnaise; together, the flavors absolutely pop.

For some, the American Kobe beef salad will suffice as an entree. Slices of buttery meat, along with crumbled blue cheese, sweet Maui onion and fresh grape-balsamic vinaigrette, top a generous bed of arugula. Smaller salads include one with goat cheese crottins rolled in crispy fried garlic bits or paper-thin pear slices or peach slices with goat cheese over baby greens.

Gorikee has developed a reputation for inspired soups such as a puree of kabocha pumpkin brightened with lacings of fresh ginger, a chowder of freshly shucked sweet corn and another of potato with the earthy taste of wild mushrooms.

Among the entrees, the juicy rib-eye steak is set off with baked garlic confit and a hint of blue cheese plated on a film of Burgundy sauce. The mellowed wine, the salty ferment of the cheese and sweet garlic unite like gracefully improvised jazz. Flattened grilled chicken thighs that arrive under a shower of brittle nut-like fried garlic slices are a marvel of crunch and juiciness. Several fish entrees are always on offer. A special one night, sea bass with miso-cilantro pesto, was accompanied with juvenile bok choy and wonderful slightly lumpy mashed potatoes.

Beyond cookies and milk

Of the made-in-house desserts, I vote for the deeply chocolaty chocolate layer cake. With it comes Tsuji’s “milky granita,” basically a sorbet whose flavor is mysteriously evocative of angel food cake. The pairing has the perfection of cookies and milk -- on an elevated plane.

Gorikee’s glass-enclosed patio makes a pleasant lunch venue. An abbreviated, less expensive menu (my favorite Kobe-style beef salad is on it) includes several sandwich alternatives. One is the Wimpy’s Burger, a bodacious 10-ounce misnomer, which comes piled with caramelized onions, garlic confit, garlic chips and a dash of mango chutney. The burger is a sophisticated twist on comfort food (just be sure to emphasize how you wish your meat cooked).

After a dinner among four friends one night, each of us having had a different garlic-laced appetizer and entree with shared tastes all around, you might imagine our palates would be suffering garlic fatigue. Not at all. In Tsuji’s hands, the cloves are subtly integrated into his smartly conceived dishes.

This is why Woodland Hills is lucky to host Gorikee. It’s the sort of quintessential hidden gem we all wish were in our own neighborhood -- and one that inspires me to drive over from the other side of the hill again and again.

*

Gorikee

Location: 21799 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818) 932-9149.

Price: Appetizers, $4 to $10; lunch entrees, $5.80 to $16; dinner entrees, $9 to $20; desserts, $2.75 to $4.50.

Best dishes: American Kobe beef salad with arugula and blue cheese; pear or peach and goat cheese salad; soft-shell crab special; grilled rib-eye; braised lamb shank special; crispy garlic young chicken.

Details: Open for lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; for dinner, 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, until 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday and until 9 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday. Beer and wine. Street parking. All major credit cards.