Expect the unexpected

I take a bite of what looks like a pinkish quenelle. In fact, it’s tuna head, finely chopped and formed into an oval and set on what looks like curdled cream. That’s actually the tuna sinew, scraped from the bone and poached in white soy-bonita broth. The effect is stunning, the tuna head tartare rich and fatty as Kobe beef, so it just melts on the tongue. Next to it is a piece of seared tuna the size of a shiitake mushroom cap. This is a slice cut from the area near the tuna’s eye, tender and incredibly flavorful, and something you’re not likely to encounter anywhere else, except perhaps in a high-end sushi restaurant.

Josef Centeno, the new chef at Opus, the restaurant next to the Wiltern LG theater on Wilshire Boulevard, is a fanatic about ingredients, scouring the Japanese fish market for the same quality seafood the best sushi chefs procure for themselves. Formerly the chef at the erstwhile Meson G, Centeno is undeniably talented. (He was also chef de cuisine at Manresa in the San Francisco Bay Area at one point, and that’s no small credit.)

Charged with creating a moderately priced, user-friendly menu at Opus, he’s done that and much more. You can sit at the bar and order a wonderful plate of creamy feta cheese with oil-slicked olives and toasted almonds, or one of the delicious dips -- smoked tomatillo and coriander to cite one -- at a mere $2 each. He’s serving a terrific flatiron steak perked up with cumin and sesame seed and paired with crisp, irresistible dill fries made from hand-cut Kennebec potatoes for $18. A plate of pristine thick-cut yellowtail sashimi at $9 is garnished with crispy bits of lardon (French-style bacon) and salt-licked preserved lemon. Delicious!

Is this a find, or what? Well, yes and no. Certainly, it’s a bargain, and when Centeno is on, he can be one of the best young chefs working in L.A. But when he gets carried away and reaches too far, he can produce some mind-boggling flops. Such as the numbingly sweet and overly rich sweet potato and quince soup I tried recently, seduced by the fact that he was savvy enough to use some of the quince that had just come into season.

Dancing back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, Centeno conveys an irrepressible thrill at being in charge of a kitchen. He’s so wide-eyed and enthusiastic that you sense how much he loves to feed people. If he sees that you enjoy his wild-sounding but delicious poblano pepper cannelloni (in which the roasted pepper stands in for the pasta), he might just slip you something you haven’t ordered, something from his ambitious “spontaneous” tasting menu. One night it is a sort of hash of raw Santa Barbara spot prawn topped with two rounds of beef marrow. From a teapot, the chef pours over a marrow broth. The effect is rich on rich, sweet on sweet, but utterly beguiling.

Most nights he greets diners with a thoughtful amuse. One evening, it’s a luxurious celery and fennel panna cotta with celery root puree topped with fresh salmon roe that bursts into salty droplets on the tongue. Another time, it’s an eggshell filled with vanilla-scented uni (sea urchin) custard and a lightly perfumed basil cream that’s ever so slightly sweet, garnished with a piece of salted kelp. Each flavor rubs against the next to do what an amuse is supposed to do: wake up your palate.

I fall in love with a salad of pale yellow and emerald-green beans tossed with shredded hard-boiled egg and hand-torn croutons in a decisive walnut vinaigrette. The flavors are so clear and delicious, I could eat two plates of this on my own.

This makes his over-embellished grilled seafood salad all the more puzzling. It has so much Parmesan on top that you can hardly taste the seafood.

Ricotta gnocchi have been rolled in so much cheese they look like coconut balls. He would have been better off keeping it simple and not adding duck confit and dates. Order incorrectly and it’s possible to end up with three sweet dishes in a row.

You can’t go wrong with the torn pasta, artfully arranged scraps of pasta with a lightly fried egg, its yolk still molten, drizzled with brown butter under a dusting of Parmesan. Spaetzle, though, gets the over-the-top treatment, mixed with braised oxtail, baby tomatoes and grapes.

Desserts lean toward the savory, and that’s a good thing. The excellent chocolate cake captivates when paired with an ice cream made with long pepper, a pungent spice from South Asia with both hot and sweet overtones. Caramelized pear shortcake features a crumbly shortcake against the lovely note of pears.

Every meal at this edition of Opus is filled with the unexpected. There’s something happening here, and it’s not all about the food. Wine service is excellent. The bar, with its own enticing menu, is thronged on weekends, especially on nights when someone interesting is playing at the Wiltern LG. The crowd at Opus is more diverse than at almost any serious restaurant I can name -- a mix of club kids, foodies, hipsters from the neighborhood and folks in search of somewhere to eat between Hollywood and downtown.

The restaurant is looking good too. To ring in the new chef, the dining room has a new paint job in earth tones and softer lighting. With its high ceilings and wide-open floor plan, the restaurant has a New York loft feel. The black leather sofas at some tables are comfy too. Getting into one can be awkward (a server has to pull out the sofa), but once inside, it feels like a private booth. There is a private room with an immense square table and high-backed chairs.

The place is glossy and urban, an improbable sophisticate amid the thriving street life, neon and fast-food restaurants in the mid-Wilshire area. On concert nights, you may have to fight your way though the throngs lined up to see the Decemberists or the Dave Matthews Band. The contrast is what makes big-city living so invigorating.

BOTTOM line: At Opus, Centeno is turning out some of L.A.’s most innovative, sometimes just plain weird, food. No question but that this guy can cook. His menu is structured so that those who want just a salad and a flatiron steak or half a roasted chicken can get that, but for those eager to put on their gastronomic explorer hats, he’s ready to lead the way into parts unknown.

You’ll never go away hungry, and you may come away with an astonishing if erratic eating experience. At any rate, you’ll be able to say you ate here early on, because if and when Centeno harnesses his talent and calms down, it’s going to be quite the ride.

*

virbila@latimes.com

**

Opus

Rating: **

Location: 3760 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 738-1600; www.opusrestaurant.net.

Ambience: Contemporary bar and restaurant in the old Atlas space next to the Wiltern LG with chef Josef Centeno (formerly of Meson G) at the helm. Opus gets a wildly diverse crowd for dinner and drinks.

Service: Crisp and professional.

Price: Dips, $2; salads and first courses, $9 to $15; pastas, $13 to $15; main courses, $15 to $22 and market price; dessert, $8; tasting menus, $30 (3 courses) to $90 (9 courses).

Best dishes: Amuse, dips, mixed green-bean salad, chilled octopus salad, yellowtail sashimi, poblano pepper cannelloni, flatiron steak with dill frites, simple chocolate cake with long pepper ice cream and caramelized pear shortcake.

Wine list: Small eclectic list includes a couple of limited-release sakes plus a dozen wines by the glass. Corkage fee $20; one corkage fee waived for every bottle purchased from wine list.

Best table: One of several flanked by two black leather couches lined up in front of the semi-open kitchen.

Special features: Enclosed smoking patio; private room.

Details: Open for dinner from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The bar is open from 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, and 5:00 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Special bar menu is offered from 5:30 p.m. to close Monday through Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking, $3.

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.