By David Nelson
SDUN Restaurant Critic

While they might live the life of Riley in Kensington, it’s hard to imagine that many bohèmes inhabit this stalwartly bourgeois corner of San Diego. Even so, a focus of neighborhood gastronomy is named Bleu Bohème partially in tribute to the easy-living, sometimes vagabond folk long known in Paris as bohèmes. Restaurateur Philippe Beltran, a Paris native who daily passed by a place called Bistro Bleu on his way to school (hence the first part of the name) is so fond of vagabonds that he founded a restaurant with this name in South Park.

Something of a wanderer himself, Beltran usually doesn’t stay long at a restaurant, so it was of little surprise when he sold Bleu Bohème some months ago to Ken Irvine, another respected chef/restaurateur who at one time owned Chez Loma in Coronado. Selling a restaurant is tricky, since intangibles like good will, when they exist, create so much of the value. The transaction is equally tricky for the buyer when the sale involves a popular restaurant because he’ll have to preserve every detail that generates the popularity. Doing anything else is called “tampering with success” and is not recommended.

To the gratitude of Bleu Bohème’s many fans, Irvine has made very few changes. A new assistant general manager, Matt Cope, was recruited from downtown’s The Oceanaire Seafood Room, a smart move that frees Irvine to focus on the kitchen. In coming weeks, a new kitchen will be installed, which will allow Irvine to add a good number of appetizers, along with specialties like seasonal variations on cassoulet. First up will be a seafood cassoulet, a Nouvelle Cuisine variant on the classic combo of beans, pork, sausage and fat-preserved fowl.

Bleu Bohème has the distinction of being instantly recognizable as French, organized along the casual lines typical of a good eatery in the countryside. The dining rooms showcase Beltran’s unusual talent for achieving the perfect mood through the perfect décor, in details like the stone walls and vast menu blackboard in the front room, which also houses the bar, and the rustic tables and wax-encrusted candlesticks in the airy, sun-drenched-at-lunch main room. To feel almost transported to la belle France, ask for a table in the front room.

Irvine knows how to cook, and carefully turns out French specialties with full respect for traditional techniques and flavors. This isn’t to say that the menu is afraid to veer from the familiar, since there are a few unusual specialties. A well-traveled guest who has ordered escargots à la bourguignonne (snails in garlic-shallot-parsley butter) anywhere she’s found them around the globe declared the listing for escargots à la portugaise ($12.95) highly improbable, but it’s not. The French have more than one way of presenting snails, just as they can ring changes on mayonnaise and hollandaise to create dozens of delectable sauces. She was highly gratified when the server presented an oval dish filled with snails cooked in well-seasoned red wine with garnishes of tomato, chickpeas and diced, spicy linguica sausage. The tasty, quite clever blue cheese-potato croquette that brought texture to the dish also added an additional strong flavor, and in the case of snails, strong flavors are what you want.

Irvine’s plan to offer more appetizers makes sense, since choices are rather limited. At present, it’s possible to open with a board of imported and made-in-house cochonnailles, or cold cuts, including very good French salamis, truffled mousse of duck liver and country pâté seasoned sharply with black pepper ($12.50). The cheese board ($16.50) would be an unusual starter in France where cheese is offered after the entrée; of course, you can order a sampling of both cheeses and meats, too ($16.50). Otherwise, open with crisply fried calamari, which are not particularly French but taste wonderful dipped in aioli, the restaurant’s signature garlic mayonnaise ($9.50), or choose a flaky pastry tart baked with caramelized onions, bacon, roasted apple and melting Reblochon cheese ($12.50). It’s a Savoyard classic that costs much less than a train ticket from Paris to the Alps. If you’re determined to dine à la francaise, by all means preface one of the quartet of featured “traditional entrées” with a deep crock of soupe a l’oignon gratinée ($9.50). Dark, hearty and bubbling under its lid of sliced baguette and browned Swiss cheese, it spoons up deliciously and provides all the central heating necessary on an average San Diego evening.

Various preparations of mussels and french fries can be ordered as starters or entrées ($10.50 and $18.50), and preceding an offering like the mussels in creamy saffron sauce with fennel with the dressy house salad ($8.50; it includes Roquefort and a crouton spread with tapenade) is certainly a smart way to build an excellent meal. For salad as the main event, Bleu Bohème proposes a salade Nicoise replete with such goodies as seared tuna ($16.50, and canned tuna is the norm in France), green beans, Nicoise olives and anchovies.

Traditional entrées include two very similar dishes, coq au vin ($23.50) and boeuf bourguignon ($24.50), which respectively simmer well-browned chicken or beef in red wine garnished with mushrooms, bacon and pearl onions. They’re equally savory, and as in Burgundy, Blue Bohème serves large portions. This is equally true of the fine duck confit, generously presented on a lengthy platter heaped with crisp pommes frites and cooked-just-right green beans. The duck, rich and juicy, is finished with a tangy green peppercorn sauce that cuts the richness ever so finely. Otherwise, choose roasted halibut with black olive/shallot butter sauce ($27.50), or an elegant rack of lamb with rosemary-flavored pan juices, ratatouille and mashed potatoes ($29.50). If you’ve had the boeuf bourguignon, be a Burgundian and finish with the pain d’epice ($8.95), or warm gingerbread with strawberry preserves and caramel ice cream.

Bleu Bohème
4090 Adams Ave.
Kensington
255-4167
bleuboheme.com
Lunch and dinner daily; brunch Saturday and Sunday