San Diego Spotlight : Among a Galaxy of Beach Eats, a Gleaming Pearl

If you view the galaxy of beach restaurants through a telescope, you’ll notice the new Guava Beach climbing toward the zenith, while McCormick’s star is on the wane.

Guava Beach Bar & Grill almost amounts to a genuine reincarnation, since it marks the return to the spot by off-and-on restaurateur Joyce Schneider, who operated the rather classy Debauchery in the same Mission Beach building in the 1970s. McCormick’s, a much less interesting eatery, is the successor to the once-admirable McCormick and Schmick’s in Pacific Beach.

Schneider made her return after the closure of Newport Annie’s, which dished up Baja California-style lobster dinners in the increasingly shabby building through most of the 1980s and into the spring of this year. In terms of style, Guava Beach may be credited with inventing the “Mission Beach Revival� look, since the high ceilings and narrow pillars have a rather antique feel that contrasts with the contemporary mood of the bar surmounted by television monitors. Overall, the place is likable, attractive and fun, and there are periodic reminders that you’re in that special, literally narrow world known as The Beach--especially when customers roll in on skateboards, as they occasionally do.

The menu treats the meaning of “eclectic� as if the word were infinitely elastic. A smorgasbord of cuisines, it creates a unique style that probably would be unacceptable were chef Scott Cotsonas less sure of himself. A graduate of the kitchens at Dobson’s and the local Pacifica restaurants, Cotsonas has written a list that encompasses such American standards as steaks, meatloaf and macaroni and cheese; Indonesian chicken curry; various Mexican dishes; Italian pastas; vigorously vegetarian combinations (how else would you describe a plate of brown rice and lentils?); Caribbean-style “jerked� meats and even a couple of French preparations.

Such a menu could be chaos, but in the setting it seems possible, and as the dishes arrive, it becomes evident that Cotsonas is quite in control. The food is good, often artful, imaginative and handsome, and it all comes at prices that seem impossibly low. The costliest entree, a 10-ounce “baseball cut� sirloin, weighs in at $9.95, but most items cost considerably less.

Because some of the food is Mexican, the bar offers hand-shaken margaritas that easily out-class the frozen slush offered elsewhere; but because this is the beach, they are available in raspberry, guava and other fruit versions as well as classic lime.

The solid appetizer list offers fine, delicate crab cakes sided with salsa verde rather than the usual tartar sauce; huge but rather greasy onion rings, with barbecue sauce on the side; and nice sopes , or patties of Mexican masa dough topped with shredded chicken, beans, salsa and sour cream. These three dishes, which have nothing at all in common, were shared by three diners who found nothing discordant in this unlikely trio. Other choices include clams steamed in herbed white wine, arugula-stuffed eggplant rolls, fish tacos and grilled squid with a spicy Thai dipping sauce.

The entree list caters equally to vegetarians, meat-eaters and seafood-lovers. There are three burger choices: vegetarian, beef, and the “grilled fishburger deluxe.� In no particular order, the menu also offers steamed carrots and broccoli flavored with ginger and sesame; stir-fried chicken; shrimp in Mexican “mojo de ajo� garlic sauce; penne in a spicy tomato sauce leavened with vodka and cream; grilled Italian sausage with polenta, and so forth.

The “Santa Barbara barbecue,� or marinated tri-tip roast with Mexican flavorings and garnishes, was a bit tough and dry, but the roast chicken with mashed potatoes and pan gravy was quite a nice exposition on simple American cooking. And the tender, baseball-cut sirloin--literally a ball of steak--arrived on a sizzling platter over which the server poured a pitcher of bouillon. The resulting sauce dressed the meat quite well.

For dessert, Cotsonas offers an amateurish creme brulee as well as a more professional key lime pie, tart, tasty and spruced up with fresh lime slices.

McCormick’s is the successor to McCormick and Schmick’s, the Pacific Northwest chain that operates several well-regarded restaurants in Seattle and Portland and, for a while, brought high-quality seafood to this large space in The Promenade center in Pacific Beach.

The Seattle chain invested heavily in the restaurant, but, perhaps because it was operating so far from home base, did not succeed in maintaining the same standards as at home, or in maintaining a sufficient clientele. It reportedly wanted out for several years and finally found a buyer about six months ago; based on a recent visit, the place seems to have slipped further.

The new menu remains devoted to seafood but is much shorter than when the Seattle folks were in control. Among the items sampled, the thresher shark was undeniably excellent, but it also was the only dish that rose above the level of mediocrity.

The list of chef’s specials reads impressively--choices include king salmon with dilled cream sauce, and Alaskan halibut topped imaginatively with cilantro pesto and Brie--but there was nothing impressive about the monkfish with crab meat and lobster sauce. Despite the implied richness of flavors, it was bland and dull. And a plate of linguine tossed with stone crab, crayfish and a supposed “Alfredo sauce� was dry, yet mushy, if that doesn’t sound entirely contradictory.

This is a handsome restaurant, and a thoughtful, thoughtfully cooked menu could probably fill it. The present menu, which offers oyster stew, bouillabaisse, a few pizzas and several meat dishes, does not read badly, but the preparation seems less than convincing.

JUST A TASTE

HIGHLIGHTS OF OTHER NELSON REVIEWS

TOUR DE FRANCE, 252 Gobernador Ibarra, Tijuana, 81-75-42. Considered by some Tijuanans to be the most chic establishment in the city, this very French restaurant is the brainchild of youthful chef Martin San Ramon, who took a working gastronomic tour of France to learn some of the elegant dishes he offers in these equally elegant surroundings. The menu opens nicely with excellent pates, good soups (except the onion gratinee ) and beautifully arranged salads, and moves along to veal sweetbreads in roasted chestnut sauce, the fine, tangy beef tournedos “Chez LeNotre,� and the roast duck in fig sauce. Desserts range from simple pastries to elaborate, baked-to-order souffles. Reservations strongly recommended. Entrees priced from $8 to $15. Moderate to expensive.

LINLEE’S, 4700 Spring St., La Mesa, 465-8888. A location immediately behind the San Diego Trolley stop in downtown La Mesa makes Linlee’s the ultimate choice for mass transit-users in search of Chinese carry-out. Otherwise, the place offers a fairly standard menu that is distinguished by good cooking, especially in the cases of the elaborately garnished pan-fried noodles and the dry-braised lobster, which simmers Maine lobster in a faintly hot sauce. The chicken corn soup is an above-average rendition of a very standard dish. Also worth noting are the minced chicken, here called “Imperial chicken,� and the yu - hsiang broccoli, crisp, fresh-tasting and enriched with strips of pork. Entrees $5.95 to $10.95. Inexpensive to moderate.

* GUAVA BEACH BAR & GRILL, 3714 Mission Blvd., Mission Beach, 488-6688, Lunch and dinner daily, Entrees $3.50 to $9.95. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $20 to $45. Credit cards accepted

McCORMICK’S, 4190 Mission Blvd., Pacific Beach, 581-3938, Lunch and dinner daily, Pastas and entrees $12.95 to $16.95; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $35 to $55