Gaslamp Quarter Restaurant Offers True Dining Adventure

The pioneering Morgan Restaurant finally gave up the ghost last summer after more than eight years as the gastronomic anchor of the most difficult--at least for a restaurant of any pretension--section of the Gaslamp Quarter.

In its early years, Morgan counted among its immediate neighbors a pair of shelters for homeless men, a fact that limited its clientele largely to a group that savors the variety and unexpected moments of a rough-shaven urban environment. Time and downtown redevelopment have tempered the area’s more jagged edges, but these blocks of lower 5th Avenue still may seem less user-friendly to many than the blocks nearer Broadway.

Morgan’s star has sputtered out, but there is a new soft glow lighting the windows at 515 5th Ave. The restaurant, called 515 Fifth, does a remarkable job of capturing that illusive, almost indefinable aura of cosmopolitan awareness that can be found only in the more trammeled sections of large downtowns. Earlier generations have defined this sense as “beat” or “hip,” both of which apply nicely to 515 Fifth.

Clientele of Artists

The relatively thin clientele on both of two recent visits included some of the artists who have begun to populate this part of town. They seemed quite at home in the setting, which uses avant-garde artworks and hand-painted cushions to brighten an old-fashioned, black and white scheme of ebony booths, checkered floor and high, pale walls. The booths are new and welcome; so is the bar, a curving construction of dark Carpathian elm trimmed in marble. Frank Sinatra croons (what else can he do?) over the sound system, and sounds just right in this setting.

The menu is almost startlingly up-to-date. The daily specials list rivals the length of the standing menu, and both receive equal attention from chef Gunther Emethinger, a 26-year-old Austrian wizard who previously worked at the trend-setting Norbert’s in Santa Barbara.

The daily specials list manages to be simultaneously tantalizing and irritating, which is no mean feat for a menu. It includes wonderful-sounding dishes, but since it is recited by the servers and runs to great length, one requires the mnemonic skills of a Roman orator to remember it. Any specials list of more than three items always should be written and inserted in the regular menu.

The mind banishes this failing when the first plates arrive. One guest so thoroughly cleaned her plate of fried Brie (coated with flour and crisped in hot butter), peppery watercress salad and fragrant sliced pears that the dish would have required only a cursory swipe with a soggy dish rag. It was indeed a remarkable combination, as was a plate of fettuccine dressed with grapes, sweet prosciutto ham, bitter radicchio lettuce, musky Stilton cheese and aromatic thyme and sage. Successful jumbles of seemingly incompatible foods like this just don’t come along very often.

Owner Laurie Woodside, whose most previous restaurant experience was as manager of The Good Earth in Santa Barbara (this Pillsbury-owned chain has transferred its local outlets to the Red Lobster chain), was reluctant to define the 515 Fifth style of cooking.

Shades of Gustaf Anders

“People call this cooking nouvelle or California cuisine, but I hate both those terms,” she said. “I can’t put a small label on our cooking--we just try to use seasonal foods and make them good.”

This combination of seasonal foods and the best intentions makes 515 Fifth somewhat reminiscent of Gustaf Anders in its early days, since there is that same air of striving to be something special in an unlikely setting. 515 Fifth is no Gustaf Anders, one must hasten to add, but it is impossible to be anything but impressed by such dishes as a special appetizer referred to simply, and disarmingly, as a “seafood cannelloni.” It consisted of a tender crepe folded around a fluffy salmon-shrimp mousse, first sprinkled with grated cheese and baked until a glaze formed, and then launched on a pool of basil-cream-woodear mushroom sauce. The two large shrimp that garnished the sides of this crepe looked like plump sentries at the portals of Paradise.

Chef Emethinger seems fond of his ovens. The bread basket typically includes warm slices of a grainy, cheese-dusted loaf flavored with minced parsley. A creamy round of corn bread, evidently custom baked, garnished a bowl of black bean soup dressed with sour cream and fresh tomato salsa. The corn bread outshone the soup, its texture almost souffle-like (there seemed a kinship to Southern spoon bread), and its flavor sparked by whole corn kernels and snippets of jalapeno pepper. A lobster and crab meat pizza, while not exceptionally notable as an entity, did begin with a thin, yeastily fragrant crust. Excellent pastries also pop cheerfully from these ovens.

The standing entree list frankly offers much less of interest than the daily specials list, a somewhat surprising fact for a new restaurant since menus are supposed to make a statement. This one does include a leg of lamb with red onion marmalade and a grilled pork loin with Fontina-topped quesadillas and black bean sauce, but the choicest items are mentioned in the specials recital.

The most unusual creation probably was a thick chunk of yellowtail tuna finished with a pungent “crust” of herbs and smoked salmon; it was clever, but the rather assertive salmon downplayed the more delicate flavors of the tuna. A slice of swordfish garnished with a three-pepper relish (red, green and yellow bell peppers were used; each has a slightly different intensity) and a light butter sauce came off more happily. In perhaps his most classic mood, Emethinger offered a fine, thick veal chop over a “sauce” of melted Camembert and woodear mushrooms. The pronounced but distinct aromas of cheese and mushrooms nicely brought up the veal, which likes to be paired with strong garnishes.

Astonishing Desserts

The restaurant’s tray of home-made desserts is astonishing and should put many grander eateries to shame. It includes a glamorous three-layer round of white, milk and dark chocolate mousses enrobed in chocolate and finished with raspberry sauce; a rich fudge tart; orange-hazelnut cheesecake; a banana creme brulee ; a strudel-like apple-raisin tart encased in the most tender pastry; and a fine plum-almond tart in a rich butter crust.

Owner Woodside admitted that her location is challenging, but said she isn’t worried. “I feel confident about this neighborhood,” she said. “I know it won’t be the heart of town tomorrow or next week, but when the Convention Center opens, this area will catch on. And anyway, I’m from the East Coast (Arlington, Va., to be precise), so this neighborhood doesn’t seem that seedy to me.”

Although the block may be quieter than formerly, it still offers scenes that can’t be found everywhere. Just as the last guests left the restaurant Monday, a young man who evidently wished to visit a friend in a small hotel across the street used a novel method of entry. Grabbing hold of its canopy, he swung himself up like an urban Tarzan and made a flying--successful--leap for the fire escape. His friend pulled him in through a window, and the street returned to silence.

515 Fifth

515 5th Ave., San Diego

232-3352

Lunch served Monday-Friday, dinner Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday.

Credit cards accepted.

Dinner for two, including a glass of house wine each, tax and tip, about $30 to $60.