Architecturally, the place is a moderately size glass box on the ground floor of the office building Plaza Five Fifty Five along Sacramento's Capitol Mall.

From the street, the restaurant is all metal skeleton and tall windows, through which shine steel, chrome and light, broken by the movement of servers in periwinkle blue, darting about like tropical fish in an aquarium.

Dishes are prepared and presented with a similarly frank design intended to show off the chefs' fascination with seasonal and regional provisions and their unassuming, graceful artistry.

That would be executive chef Luc Dendievel and chef de cuisine Christophe Gérard.

Dendievel arrived in the Sacramento area from New York two years ago to be executive chef at Baccaras Restaurant & Wine Bar in Folsom.

Owners Ali Mackani and Lisa Watts subsequently closed Baccaras to prepare 55 Degrees, bringing Dendievel with them.

Gérard, most recently of Angèle Restaurant & Bar in Napa, joined his old New York pal Dendievel to open 55 Degrees in September.

In New York, Dendievel was recognized for the forthright cooking of his Belgian and French grounding - dark and deep Flemish casseroles, robust coq au vin and similar unaffected country fare.

Gérard, meanwhile, made his mark in the Napa Valley by bringing refreshing brightness, nuance and whimsy to traditional French dishes he'd learned at such esteemed restaurants as Taillevent in Paris and Lespinasse in New York.

Both have been influenced by the agricultural bounty, exploratory spirit and bright sunshine of California, and their blended aesthetics now yield a cuisine radiant, varied and debonair without being stuffy. It's direct and punchy cooking, but it's also lighter and less complex than customary Belgian and French cooking.

Guests at Restaurant 55 Degrees can expect dishes that are conceived intelligently, executed with precision and presented without confusion or pretense.

Without exception, dishes are mouthwateringly inviting, and 90 percent of the time they deliver vivid, unflawed flavors. Despite a relaxing and casual brasserie ambience, 55 Degrees isn't inexpensive, but the chances of finding a dish that will beckon you back regardless of price is as good here as any place in town.

The mix of the traditional and the modern is evident throughout the menu, but most tellingly in the section devoted to mussels. The chefs prepare them four ways, from a classic Belgian take involving white beer and applewood-smoked bacon to a more contemporary Thai interpretation in which green curry, lemongrass, coconut milk and ginger spice up the broth. (Each style is $16.)

We tried just one of the mussel dishes, the signature "55 Degrees," made with Belgian white beer. We tried it twice, actually, because initially we were surprised how flat the broth was. This impression only was reinforced on our next visit. While the mussels were plentiful and meaty, and the bacon added welcome richness, the broth lacked zip.

The presentation certainly was dramatic and fun, with the mussels in a dark, lidded mussel pot and their accompanying crispy fries in a cone, but the flatness of the broth let the air out of what was expected to be a jostling good ride.

Other traditional starters were more impressive, none more so than a dark round of finely shredded oxtail that looked dry and stringy but tasted of the essence of beef ($13). A gribiche sauce - basically a forward mix of hard-boiled egg yolks whisked with mustard, capers, cornichons, parsley, olive oil and vinegar - offset the richness of the meat with a touch of satiny and tingly spice.

A rilette of salmon - poached and shredded salmon mixed with tarragon and lemon into a spread both rich and tangy - arrived in a ramekin that quickly was cleaned out as the rich contents were dabbed on thin and crispy crostini ($10).

Cured duck foie gras arrived as a dense and buttery puck to be spread on toasted brioche with a fruity compote of quince. The upshot was a jubilant combination that reminded us that the extravagances of the year-end holiday season are fast approaching ($18).

Starters in a more animated, contemporary and California vein included a salad of roasted golden and ruby baby beets with creamy goat cheese and peppery arugula, all dressed with a vinaigrette of beet and walnut oils ($10.50), and a single perfect Dungeness crab cake that tasted solely of sweet fresh crustacean, punctuated with the natural spiciness of radish sprouts ($12.50).

The restaurant's selection of entrees is compact but diverse, including a few hearty meat dishes, a few lighter seafood selections and a couple of unusually artful vegetarian choices. One of the latter was a single poached organic egg on creamy mashed potatoes ringed with sauteed chanterelle mushrooms, the whole bright and natural assembly in an emulsion of English peas ($14); in a seasonal adjustment, the peas have been succeeded by braised leeks.

The other is a muscular risotto pungent with garlic and woodsy with chanterelle, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, shot through with the richness of black truffle oil and topped with thick shavings of Parmigiano cheese, an entree so filling that any meat at all would seem overkill ($15).

As to the meats, they were glorious, including a thick and moist pork chop reinforced with bacon, sweetened with prunes and accompanied with Brussels sprouts so flavorful you sensed that the chefs included them just to show they could lift even the lowest of ingredients to wondrous heights ($21).

The richness of a succulent New Zealand rack of lamb - recently replaced on the menu with Australian lamb sirloin - nearly was upstaged by a roasted piquillo pepper stuffed with braised and shredded lamb shoulder seasoned with shallots, spices and herbs ($25), while a rich, juicy and beautifully crusty filet mignon was nearly sabotaged by oversalted sautéed spinach ($34).

Seafood was handled perfectly, each distinct centerpiece enlivened with jaunty and fitting accompaniments - a colorful compressed pad of sweet gold and red peppers and a black-olive vinaigrette with the halibut ($21); the sweetness of cippolini onions, the fruitiness of a red wine jus and the richness of lardon with meaty monkfish ($22); and a foamy sauce of vanilla and curry that added delicate notes of sweetness and spice to plump and buttery pan-seared scallops ($25).

Desserts continue the theme of tradition and innovation. The former was represented by a lemon buttermilk panna cotta whose tanginess was offset by the sweetness of marinated strawberries ($9), and three cute profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream, draped with chocolate sauce and topped with the crunchy sweetness of almond brittle ($9).

More contemporary desserts included a hot, gooey and intense bittersweet chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream ($9), superb and refreshing sorbets of passion fruit, raspberry and mango, all made in house ($8), and a pretty and light round of dark and white chocolates drizzled with glossy chocolate and fruity with sauces of raspberry and mango ($8).

Somewhere in between the traditional and the modern was a parfait glass of vanilla rice pudding topped with a passion fruit jelly that percolated through the pudding, infusing it with fruity flavor ($7).

The two-page wine list includes several recognizable producers and varietals, but it's most exciting in its zeal to embrace unfamiliar but solid vintners and styles, such as Matt Garretson's lusty Rhone-style wines from Paso Robles and grenaches, rieslings and malbecs from all over.

In its artfully bold design, 55 Degrees won't by itself transform Capitol Mall into Wilshire Boulevard or Madison Avenue, but it joins Il Fornaio in bringing class and spunk to a strip that needs more drama to match its breadth and setting.

Its skeletal design and bright lights are risky, potentially intimidating guests who like their restaurants familiar, subdued and plush. A muted orange color theme, a cinnamon-hued banquette and peppermint drop-down lights, however, all bring warmth and fashion to the premises.

The key design fixture, a long up-lit steel-and-glass wine locker, would have more impact if only it were kept full; 55 degrees is the ideal temperature for storing wine. To better convey a sense of abundance and celebration, the oyster bar also could be better stocked.

Service steadily has improved since our first visit just as 55 Degrees opened. At first overly chatty and more focused on self than guests, it's gradually become more confident and more adept at answering patron questions. On our most recent visit, our server couldn't have been more graceful and alert. The restaurant may be called 55 Degrees, but its service is increasingly warm.
 

Restaurant 55 Degrees
555 Capitol Mall, Sacramento
(916) 553-4100
½ / $$$$

FOOD: The hearty brasserie fare of Belgium and France - mussels in four interpretations, steaks and fries, escargot, foie gras - are prepared flawlessly and presented as if they were about to be photographed for Gourmet magazine.

AMBIENCE: Big windows, bright lighting and the gleam of steel and chrome provide a modern, neutral and minimalist showcase in which the food and the clientele are shown to best advantage.

HITS: Free valet parking, a welcome necessity in this neighborhood, but more than one attendant needs to be on duty. Contemporary jazz is played at a non-intrusive volume. Wine list is manageable, comprehensive, appropriate and adventurous, but could use more releases with lower prices. Bread by Village Bakery.

MISSES: Early service that was overly chatty and self-centered has been reined in lately. Showcase wine cellar along one side of the room should be kept filled to realize its full impact.

HOURS: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, dinner 5-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

About the writer:
Reach The Bee's Mike Dunne at ((916) 321-1143 or
 mdunne@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/dunne.

Copyright © The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.