ANOTHER MELROSE PLACE : Mortons Has a New Location, Slightly New Menu--and the Same Old Famous Faces

In Edith Wharton’s 1905 novel “The House of Mirth,” several of the wealthy Americans sojourning in Monte Carlo consider where to eat. One woman confides to a new arrival on the scene: “Of course, one gets the best things at the Terrasse--but that looks as if one hadn’t any other reason for being there: The Americans who don’t know anyone always rush for the best food.”

Put me squarely in that category. If I have to choose between the decor of a restaurant and good food, I’ll always go for the latter. That’s why you probably won’t find me ensconced at Mortons. At this Los Angeles restaurant, opened in 1980 by Peter Morton, founder of the Hard Rock Cafe, the food was always secondary to the scene. Not that you ate badly there--the cooking was just never particularly exciting. Familiar, yes. Staid, yes. It quietly appeared and was eaten, without ever clamoring for your attention.

Regulars could expect to see the same faces week in, week out, mostly insiders in the television and film industries. Its cachet seemed solid as a rock. Then in mid-January, after nearly 14 years at the same low-key location, Morton moved his namesake restaurant across the street, to the former Trump’s space.

The old Mortons was so discreet that only the glint of light through the closed shutters gave away its location at Melrose and Robertson. The entrance was hidden around the corner. The brash new Mortons has the name scrawled high on the facade, and the entrance can be seen from Melrose. But just as before, the restaurant consists of a large high-ceilinged room with a few palms to shelter the publicity-shy. It seats about 140, as opposed to 120, but it doesn’t feel cramped. However, the acoustics are such that it’s harder to overhear any juicy gossip. It’s even difficult to hear across the table. The old space was so dark you needed a night-scope to spot a celebrity. It’s a touch brighter now, but still dim enough to hamper serious star-gazing.

With the change of venue, Morton has also freshened up the cuisine. He’s hired Brian Keller, a young chef who worked with both Jeremiah Tower of Stars in San Francisco and Bradley Ogden at Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur. The idea was not to tear down the menu and start from scratch. To avoid unsettling the faithful, certain items like the Morton’s house salad, a nice mix of organic baby lettuces with fresh shrimp and a generous handful of English peas, have been preserved. Also still on board, the spicy tuna sashimi in a creamy dressing. The free-range, lime-grilled chicken is delicious, mahogany on the outside and moist within. You can still count on a decent dry-aged New York steak served with wild mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes. And a note on the menu assures that “Selections can be prepared in classic Mortons style upon request.” Everyone’s home safe.

Gone is the gooey but appealing quesadilla with black beans and Mexican shrimp. The Maryland crab cakes, never a favorite of mine, now come with a hipper mustard aioli and a coarse red cabbage slaw. It’s barely three months into the new Mortons, it’s true, but the menu changes look more like tinkering than a culinary revolution. A couple of the new dishes, however, are surprisingly gutsy in concept--at least for Mortons. Take the grilled shrimp in a salty--too salty--Chinese black bean sauce or the chilled asparagus with truffled beets and a garnish of shaved jicama. (It sounds more interesting than what appears on the plate.) Some dishes seem to be present because they’re popular everywhere else, like the so-so corn pancake, here paired with grilled lobster instead of the ubiquitous smoked salmon.

Decked out in colors of the Italian flag, a plate of marinated lentils surrounded with organic tomatoes, scoops of arugula pesto and pristine bocconcino (“little bites”) of mozzarella replaces the more conventional tomato, basil and Mozzarella salad. Instead of lemon and butter, swordfish is served in a chile-lime vinaigrette with a tired radicchio and cucumber relish. The ahi tuna, which was

always perfectly grilled, now comes with a yellow-tomato coulis. The unremarkable lamb loin gets a mild ginger marinade. Pork tenderloin was particularly disappointing, overcooked and tasteless. The old menu didn’t have great ambitions, but the new menu seems to lack a clear point of view.

Lunch can be more fun than dinner; the atmosphere is more upbeat, and the food is marginally better. Spring rolls filled with shrimp and shredded vegetables are quite good, the grilled vegetable plate with wild rice is fine. And the pancetta pizza (also on the dinner menu) is a respectable rendition, but watch out for the dense burger on a thick doughy bun and the “lean duck” sandwich.

As far as I can see, the best thing about lunch is that, should there be anyone to see, it’s bright enough to actually get a look. And after all, that’s why at least half the crowd is here. It’s definitely not--it couldn’t possibly be--for the food.

Mortons, 8764 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; (310) 276-1253. Open Monday through Friday for lunch, Monday through Saturday for dinner. Full bar. Valet parking. All major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $63-$90, lunch, $32-$58.