French glamour just in time - CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK - Los Angeles Times

Linq is no more. In its place is Ortolan, a peacock of a French restaurant from ex-L'Orangerie chef Christophe Emé and his partner, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan.

Funny thing, though: It's named after a small bird so favored by gourmands (who liked to put napkins over their heads — to concentrate the aroma — and eat it whole) that they virtually wiped the species out. Eating ortolan is now outlawed in France. It doesn't happen to be on the menu at Ortolan either. But it's a pretty word.

The buzz on this new West 3rd Street restaurant has been nonstop. Los Angeles is in dire need of a seriously good French restaurant. There's an appetite out there for fine dining, not at the same old places but somewhere new. Somewhere sexy and glamorous.

Ortolan certainly has all the trappings. Emé and Ryan are going for hard-edged glamour and state-of-the-art French cuisine. The place is positively giddy with chandeliers. White leather booths turn your table into a secluded sanctuary.

The partners have completely reconfigured the space, adding a communal table with jauntily mismatched chairs that seats almost 30. That's where they serve a more casual bar menu.

Meanwhile, the bar itself is now on the far side of the dining room, beneath a glassed-in ceiling, with another room beyond that where a fire burns merrily in a fireplace.

The food is theatrical, presented on all the latest fashionable china. The bread arrives with a wooden base holding three test tubes — three different oils (one is lobster) to have with your bread.

Emé's signature crispy langoustines arrive in stereo — two langoustines on a subtly spiced chickpea purée and two shots of minestrone. Other appetizers include crayfish and rabbit meatballs with rosemary gnocchi and dollops of burrata cheese. Or hot and cold versions of hamachi, side by side, with a blood orange marinade. Slate-roasted scallops come in a lacy orange-cardamom sauce.

The menu covers just one page, which makes it easier to navigate — and easier for the chef to change it, depending on what's at the market or his whim. For two, there's a delicious lamb pastilla: lamb wrapped in filo, then cut in thick, juicy slices. He serves white Alaskan salmon accented with chorizo and shaved Parmesan, and an artichoke barigoule. Spiny lobster from Santa Barbara is cooked en cocotte with spring vegetables and au jus made from the lobster shells.

He's also serving squab two ways, the breast roasted rose, the leg as confit, and both with a dusky tapenade salad and gratin of macaroni.

Baby ice cream cones, each with a different flavor of ice cream, charm come dessert time. Do not leave without ordering the lovely baked-to-order pear clafoutis. Served warm, it's a soulful coda to a meal at this new and very fashion-driven French restaurant.

Ortolan

Where: 8338 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles

When: Dinner 6 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 6 to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Full bar. Valet parking.

Cost: First courses, $16 to $110; main courses, $29 to $39; desserts, $10. Bar menu, $10 to $23.

Info: (323) 653-3300