A charm that beckons

It’s a late Sunday morning and sun is streaming into the window of Joe’s Restaurant, onto the worn wood floors of the raffish bungalow, and dancing off the beams of the high ceiling. The effect is utterly charming, adding to the relaxed atmosphere of this beloved Venice restaurant.

The crowd is a typical mix (and for most anywhere else on the planet, a highly atypical one) of Venice bohemians, young families with babes in arms, tourists and Joe’s loyalists who have driven across town to brunch at the popular California-French restaurant. Sipping foamy cappuccino or a simple cup of joe, we’re all stealing time from a busy weekend of kids’ soccer games, errands, gardening or -- shudder -- the gym to spend a couple of soothing hours over brunch. When you step into Joe’s, which has been around since 1991, it feels as comfortable as slipping into a favorite sweater. You can come dressed up. Or not. In sandals off the shelf of Barney’s shoe department or in plastic flip-flops ready for the beach.

I’m staring at a plate of poached eggs with fat roasted asparagus spears set down in a startling green pea sauce and scattered with English peas the size of Barbara Bush’s pearls, wishing I’d brought my camera. A blogger would have no compunctions about photographing every dish and posting the pix as soon as he or she got back to the computer. They would make great shots. The yolks are a deep yellow, nice and runny -- and, with that sweet pea sauce, a few spring onions and lacy chervil leaves, the dish is spring on a plate. And to sop up the last of the delicious sauce, there are thick, buttery slices of brioche.

Scrambled eggs and satiny smoked salmon conceal a rosti potato cake (the Swiss version of hash browns) like gift-wrapping. The presentation may be a bit odd, but the combination is nice. I like the Dungeness crab hash too, a lighter version than corned beef and very Californian. Grilled chicken salad with arugula and Belgian endive mixed with fennel and oranges is a good idea, but underdressed and underflavored.

Always in season

Brunch at Joe’s is a delightful bargain. Nothing is more than $14, and each order includes a choice of romaine salad, fruit plate with yogurt sauce, granola with spiced milk, or the soup of the day. In this particular case, it’s a deep-orange carrot ginger soup, not usually anything I’d choose, but this is quite a good version. The taste of the carrots is deep and true. The ginger adds a hint of heat.

Go to the Wednesday farmers market in Santa Monica and one chef you’ll see shopping there week in, week out is Joe Miller, chef and owner of Joe’s. He’ll have the first peas, the first baby fava beans and sweet white corn. The prix fixe menu will propose dishes with baby golden beets, blood oranges and feathery cress. Lamb or veal might come with a ragout of spring vegetables or a medley of root vegetables.

The farmers market has been driving the menu since day one, when Miller, who had worked at Katsu, took over the tiny Rockenwagner space on Abbot Kinney Boulevard after Hans Rockenwagner moved his restaurant to Santa Monica. Unlike chefs at a lot of other places I could name, Miller was in the kitchen every night, turning out astonishingly delicious California-French food from a cramped space that was smaller than most home kitchens. He did his time -- and then some.

At one point, he added a pocket patio out back, but the restaurant still really consisted only of a long hallway with tables so crammed together you could hardly breathe without making the chair behind you rock. But then five years ago, the space next door became available. Miller remodeled and expanded the kitchen. Now he’s got a full bar and a laid-back city look, banquettes covered in pinstriped ticking, an actual wine room. It’s much easier on the weekends to get a table, and they’re not jammed in. Without sacrificing any of its boho charm, the new Joe’s is much more comfortable. If you’re nostalgic for the old place, you can still sit at one of two choice corner tables in the bar.

But if the dinners I’ve had at Joe’s recently are any indication, the restaurant seems to have lost focus. I know Miller wasn’t cooking on at least two out of three recent visits. On the third one, I was surprised to see Scooter Kanfer-Cartmill, who recently left Naya in Pasadena, behind the stoves “helping Joe out for a few days,” as the waiter put it. Though the meal I had when she was cooking was better than the previous ones, something is missing at Joe’s these days. Maybe it’s Joe.

Longing for great old days

Buying great produce and writing a menu that reflects the season is only the first step. The kitchen has to follow the Hippocratic oath and do no harm. Lately, though, cooking times are off with the seafood in particular. I remember Miller’s slow-cooked salmon as something special. Now the salmon is just another piece of fish. Across the board, sauces tend to be over-reduced, overriding the more delicate flavors of the fish, poultry or meat. It’s like a musician playing the same note over and over. Sometimes things falter in an entirely different direction. An appetizer of 10 autumn vegetables supposedly has a horseradish dressing, but its presence is so ephemeral, the plate tastes like plain boiled veggies.

The signature porcini mushroom ravioli are still rich and satisfying, a chewy dough stuffed with wild mushrooms in a splash of buttery Parmesan broth laced with velvety porcini mushrooms. A mixed green salad showered with soft herbs and some of those irresistible fresh peas is beguiling. But the kitchen is so inconsistent at times, it can seem like blind luck if you happen to end up with a dish that reminds you of the great old days at Joe’s.

The prix fixe menu is where I’d look first. If the cooking is spot-on, it’s a pretty good deal in these days of the $85-and-up chef’s menu. Miller has always been careful about his prices, though the menus that were once in the $30s and $40s have now crept up to the $50s and $60s. But for $68, you get a four-course menu complete with appetizer and dessert amuses. It might include pan-roasted skate with baby artichokes, pretty little favas and pea tendrils, or a tasty grilled quail with polenta, followed by a rather plain roasted loin of veal and lamb with a bouquet of spring vegetables.

The service has always been terrific. Waiters stay for years and have a good grasp of the food and the wine. But one night, the dessert chef left before we ordered. We were having cheese plates and I guess he thought we weren’t planning on dessert, so the waiter sent out a PBJ bread pudding on the house. Peanut butter and jelly bread pudding? It tasted like some kind of joke, a bad idea that couldn’t be salvaged in the execution.

The cheese course is always a good bet, though. And desserts, except for the PBJ idea, can be quite good. A frozen creme fraiche souffle with strawberry rhubarb compote is tart and delicious. So is the signature creme brulee with hazelnuts. And especially the pistachio lemon trifle -- trifle! Now that’s brilliant, layered with lemon curd and raspberry jam.

Owning and running a restaurant is an exhausting business for sure. And after 13 years, nobody expects Joe Miller to be on the line every lunch, every dinner. But the kitchen seems to be drifting away from the graceful cooking that made Joe’s Joe’s.

*

Joe’s Restaurant

Rating: *

Location: 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice; (310) 399-5811; www.joesrestaurant.com.

Ambience: Warm, inviting California-French restaurant with a loyal local following. Joe’s encompasses the original tiny space (which is now the bar) plus an adjoining high-ceilinged dining room and outdoor pocket patio.

Service: Professional and attentive, though the pacing can be slow.

Price: Dinner appetizers, $8 to $17; main courses, $23 to $27; desserts, $7; lunch, $10 to $15; brunch items, $9 to $14. Chef’s prix fixe menus, $55 and $68.

Best dishes: Poached eggs with roasted asparagus and English pea sauce, rosti potato with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, porcini mushroom ravioli with wild mushrooms, beet risotto with asiago cheese, kurobuta pork loin with braised red cabbage, grilled quail with soft polenta, frozen creme fraiche souffle, pistachio lemon trifle.

Wine list: California-centric with some older bottles and interesting choices from smaller producers. Corkage, $20.

Best table: One of the two corner booths in the bar

Special features: Outdoor patio

Details: Open noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday; also open for brunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Full bar. Valet parking, $5.

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.