Where looks are everything

THE Lodge, a trendy new steakhouse on La Cienega just above Wilshire, is the kind of place that almost demands a martini.

Immediately.

Service is snappy, which is helpful because the decor is so wild you’ll be glad of a drink while you get your bearings. Animal skins are casually draped over the log walls of the entry corridor. Tabletops are sawed from tree trunks. The crazy zigzag ceiling remaining from the space’s days as a coffee shop is now entirely covered in rustic wood planks.

It’s an extreme makeover, almost as if designer Dodd Mitchell were one of the zany interior decorators on TV brought in to redo the house while the blissfully innocent homeowners are away. Surprise! It’s a fantasy hunting lodge for die-hard carnivores with expense accounts.

But while the specifics -- double fieldstone fireplaces, truncated shaggy-bark tree trunks as pillars, a private dining room screened by a floor-to-ceiling faux-fur curtain and lighted by a twig chandelier -- are kind of goofy, the effect is curiously cozy. Maybe it’s because the wrap-around leather booths are so comfy, the light level so soothing and the people watching so oddly compelling. How does that guy achieve his asymmetrical bouffantdo? Where’d he find those extravagantly tooled boots? Are those two -- happily chowing down on a Porterhouse-for-two -- businessmen from Chicago or “Sopranos”-territory refugees in a witness protection program? Could those bee-stung lips possibly be for real?

It’s all food for thought, which is a good thing because I’m having a hard time getting excited about eating at one more trendy new steakhouse.

Lately, we’ve had such a run of them it’s hard to know where you want to eat your New York strip. With Dakota, the second Boa, Sterling and Chapter 8 all vying for the hipster steakhouse spotlight, only the decor sets this place apart from the pack. No one’s interested in opening up any new territory with the menu, which is basically straight-ahead steakhouse fare with a few seafood items thrown in.

How’s the steak?

SO how does the steak measure up at the Lodge? When I order a steak, I expect the flavor to be worth the calories. But here, as at all too many of the newer steakhouses, it’s easy to get caught up in a conversation and not even notice the steak you’re eating, it’s so unremarkable.

As I’m learning over and over, not all Prime beef is created equal. Steaks at the traditional steakhouses such as Arnie Morton’s the Steakhouse or Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse tend to be more aged than these. Whether or not that’s the case, they have more flavor than the Lodge’s steaks. Even some places that don’t feature Prime beef nevertheless manage to present a great steak.

You’d think cooking a steak would be the one thing a steakhouse kitchen would have down cold, but sometimes at the Lodge your rib eye or New York strip comes out perfectly charred and medium rare, whereas other times it arrives with barely a char, looking more as if it’s been steamed than grilled or broiled. When a guest one night sent back his pale, limp steak and ordered the rack of lamb, the lamb chops suffered the same indignity. Is anybody back there paying attention?

Spicing things up

BECAUSE the beef doesn’t have all that much flavor, one of the better choices is the New York steak, sliced, in a pungent peppercorn sauce. A special Cajun rib eye marinated 24 hours in Cajun spices comes on the bone, and again, the meat benefits from the spicy seasoning. But would I rush to pay $45 for it? I think not. It’s hard to imagine, but the veal chop turns out to have more flavor than some of the steaks.

Sauces, thankfully, come on the side. The homemade steak sauce tastes muddy and acrid, and when I pour out the chimichurri, all I get is olive oil: The chopped parsley remains at the bottom of the pitcher.

Aside from the problem of the steaks -- and that’s major for a steakhouse -- the Lodge has, after a rocky start, pulled together the service and revised some of the dishes so it’s addressing at least some of the earlier lapses.

There are enough waiters and runners in attendance to staff two restaurants, not just this one. Attired in tan jackets embroidered with the steakhouse name, they do their best, ferrying drinks, advising on sides or sauces, announcing the specials carefully -- commendably, with prices attached.

The onion rings that were, in the restaurant’s early weeks, grease-laden bracelets of dough, are now crisp and fried to a deep golden brown -- not the best in L.A., but perfectly acceptable. The crab cake is plump and tall, tasting mostly of fresh crabmeat. And the steak tartare is hand chopped and precisely seasoned.

The Caesar, though, is awfully expensive (at $12) for something that tastes as if it could have come from a cafeteria. It’s made with limp Romaine cut into 2-inch pieces, and the dressing lacks punch and personality. A better choice is the double wedge of iceberg and butter lettuce with Thousand Island or a creamy blue cheese dressing -- or both. I don’t think it needs all that crumbled bacon on top, though.

Some of the fancier appetizers are not only not good, but also come in portions that are mingy for the price. Seared Hudson Valley foie gras, for example, is two thin slices marooned on an expanse of toast. To add insult to injury, the foie gras still had some membranes clinging to it. Shrimp scampi is pitiful: just two shrimp in a lot of sauce for $29 -- that’s $14.50 per shrimp, probably more than they cost per pound.

Successful sides

THE kitchen does a good job with the sides, though, each of which costs you $8. They’ve got great French fries showered with garlic and parsley. Lyonnaise potatoes are something like French home fries, the chunks of potato buttery and crisp, the onions soft. There’s sauteed rapini and roasted beets, too, and really delicious sauteed button mushrooms. Nothing fancy, just perfectly executed.

And for baked potato fans, they’ve got a salt-baked potato with all the fixings. These would include sweet butter, gobs of sour cream and more of that intensely smoky bacon. And the baked potato’s price is another of the improvements since the opening: It used to be $11; now it’s $9.

Wine is a serious matter here. The personable sommelier, Caitlin Stansbury, works the floor tirelessly. She’s put together a list that encompasses more than 200 wines, and two-dozen wines by the glass. Watch out, though; each has two prices -- by the taste or by the glass. A friend saw the Krug Grande Cuvee listed for $20, which seemed like a pretty good deal for a glass, but she didn’t notice the two-tiered pricing and when the bill came learned that $20 would have purchased a mere 3-ounce pour. Her glass cost $38. Not a good deal.

As you’d expect, the list is heavy on the Cabernets. Tucked among the California Cabs is a bottle of the 2002 Screaming Eagle for $2,750, a trophy for someone who wants to drop a bundle. Does this sound familiar? It’s the cult Cab coveted by wine geeks who read Parker; we’ve seen it for sale at another local steakhouse, Sterling, for more than $3,000.

But there are also lots of much more modestly priced Syrahs and Zinfandels that would drink well with a steak, even some reds from South Africa. Corkage is complimentary for the first bottle; $25 for the second, with a two-bottle maximum per table.

For chocoholics

DESSERTS don’t really save the day. Vanilla bean cheesecake is achingly sweet and curiously fluffy and gummy at the same time. The banana split is good and comes with pitchers of caramel sauce and fudge sauce. The best, and this is strictly for chocoholics, is the chocolate tasting plate -- a glass of excellent malted chocolate milk, a house-made Ding-Dong-like cake and a dark-chocolate turtle.

Are a quirky stage set and a few good side dishes enough to make a successful restaurant? The owners of the Lodge seem to think so.

If someone had spent as much thought on developing a more original menu and bringing some creative energy to the kitchen as they did on crafting a distinctive look, maybe they’d have something that would warrant the price. But for people who think food matters, the Lodge doesn’t begin to deliver. It’s just another steakhouse dressed to kill.

*

The Lodge

Rating: *

Location: 14 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 854-0024.

Ambience: Hipper-than-thou steakhouse with a cozy lumberjack theme -- to wit, animal skins, shaggy-barked tree trunks, stone fireplaces and wood everywhere.

Service: Willing and able.

Price: Appetizers, $12 to $22; steaks and chops, $26 to $55; sides, $8 to $9; desserts, $9.

Best dishes: Jumbo crab cake, onion rings, double wedge of lettuce, New York steak with peppercorn sauce, veal chop, banana split, chocolate tasting.

Wine list: Wide-ranging and fairly eclectic, but watch those “by the glass” prices. Corkage: first bottle complimentary, $25 second bottle; two-bottle maximum per table.

Best table: A leather booth in front of the fireplace.

Special features: Private dining room with twig chandelier.

Details: Open for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to midnight daily. Full bar. Valet parking, $4.50

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.