Recipe for Success

Perroche has been one of the Valley’s best restaurants since the day it opened a little more than two years ago. But when chef Grady Adkins departed, it seems a good chunk of the restaurant’s clientele went with him.

That doesn’t seem fair, since nothing much has been lost in the transition. Owner Stuart Barker is now manning the stoves, and the food is every bit as good as it was when Adkins was in the kitchen. The comely, unpretentious dining room is filled with snug, red booths and undersized tables.

I showed up one Tuesday evening around 8:30 and was shocked to find the restaurant empty. That is an out-and-out crime since restaurants inferior and pricier than Perroche flourish on Ventura Boulevard. All I can do to repair this scenario is report on what I ate--completely delicious food at reasonable prices.

Dining here, one senses a collaborative effort. The staff is well versed on the menu, and the waiters take pains helping each other to make the service run smoothly. The menu is divided into two sections, starters and entrees, both full of appealing dishes. Caramelized onion tart is a delightful, almost ephemeral creation that melts in the mouth.

I liked the way components in the roasted leek and Serrano ham salad drizzled with mustard dressing blended together. That was also the case with roasted radicchio, walnut and fourme d’Ambert salad.

Perroche’s house-smoked trout on potato pancake garnished with beets and creme fraiche is also a winner, a dish I like better as a main course than as an appetizer. Asparagus, sweet pepper and arugula salad is a charming and light palate teaser, as is hearts of romaine with a coddled egg dressing.

Flatbread with grilled vine tomatoes, goat cheese and basil is listed as an entree, but this crisp-crusted pizza makes a terrific midcourse for sharing.

My two favorite main courses are meats, namely pan-roasted pork and char-grilled rib of beef. The moist, nicely browned pork comes in a sweet shallot and oyster mushroom sauce, and the chewy, flavorful rib meat is served bistro style with crisply fried potatoes, a green salad and a nice marchand de vin sauce. I also like roasted white sea bass with tapenade and basmati rice and any other fish Barker prepares.

Perroche’s desserts are bland and don’t quite rise to the rest of the menu. But two I tried, a tart, hot apple crisp and a silky chocolate sabayon pie, were relatively pleasant. Maybe business will pick up when people realize that starters average $7 and entrees $14.

Those who grumble that Ventura Boulevard has too many restaurants, take note. Hardly any of them are half as good as Perroche.

BE THERE

Perroche, 11929 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Valet parking in rear. Beer and wine only. All major cards. Suggested dishes: caramelized onion tart, $6; roasted leek, Serrano ham salad, $7; loin of pork, $16; char-grilled rib of beef, $18. Call (818) 766-1179.