Whenever I review a seafood restaurant, someone always asks, ''Is it as good as J's?'' I've had to sheepishly admit that I've never eaten at J's, which has been here for 16 years. J's is owned by Jimmy Gherardi, who has become well-known through Everybody's Cooking on WVXU (91.7 MHz).
So I went to see if J's really is a benchmark for judging restaurants.
There are some things that I will, indeed, file in my mental list of quality standards.
First, there's the service, which is just about perfect. Then the extensive wine list, which includes heady vintages at high prices as well as well-chosen, modest bottles fairly priced.
And then there's the swordfish ($17.95 for 6 ounces, $20.95 for 10 ounces). This neat triangle of fish combines solid steakiness from the grill with the tender, delicate flavor of the sea. On the side are garlic mashed potatoes and perfectly done asparagus.
Many other dishes are more elaborately prepared but, in general, they, too, rely on precise cooking and happy, simple combinations of excellent ingredients.
Mr. Gherardi and chef John Moore most heavily mine the ingredients and traditions of Italian cooking, but occasionally reach into Asian and other cuisines. Seafood is only one part of the menu; pastas and meat dishes are equally represented.
The setting of J's, on the ground floor of The Regency building at Dana Avenue and Madison Road, is comfortable. It fits into its Hyde Park environs: well-furnished but not flashy.
I started one night with fried smelts and Asian slaw ($7.95). Plump little smelts are battered and fried, like a Lilliputian Friday night fish fry, and served with crunchy mixed-cabbage slaw. Oysters baked with spinach, sake and goat cheese ($7.95) are an updated, fresher version of Oysters Rockefeller, with just-cooked spinach and snowy-white goat cheese covering bursting oysters. Steamed mussels ($7.95) are immaculately clean and fresh, sweet with a touch of marsala, along with garlic and Chinese chives.
A touch of sweetness in savory dishes is one theme of the menu. There was a delicious contrast in the smoky peppered mackerel on slightly bitter organic field greens dressed with a sweet-tart dried cranberry vinaigrette ($7.95).
Garlic is another J's theme. A whole roasted head is served with a cruet of olive oil and J's signature long skinny bread sticks. I approve of both, but it's a little difficult to eat the two together. You can use the bread sticks to scoop out garlic, but I'd prefer a piece of regular bread to spread it on.
After that, an earthy dish of spiced garlic shrimp with ripe tomatoes, basil and vermicelli ($15.95) was almost garlic overdose, if such a thing is possible. There's also plenty of fresh basil in this dish, and chopped tomatoes cooked just enough to disintegrate into a light sauce around meaty shrimp.
Much richer was the fusilli with homemade chicken sausage ($12.95). The small rounds of sausage are flavored conventionally with fennel but are much lighter than usual Italian sausage. Nothing light about the mascarpone cheese that forms the sauce.
Three kinds of fish are offered nightly. We tried tilapia, lightly char-grilled and flaky, served over angel hair sauced like the spiced shrimp pasta.
I dipped into the meat section of the menu once, for mildly flavored organic lamb loin with five-spice cabernet sauce ($19.95). Roasted peppers and mushrooms are the perfect accompaniment.
One entree I didn't go for was the enchilada with crab, scallops and fish ($17.95). It was the quite-spicy but sweet sauce, more Thai than Mexican, that put me off.
Both nights our servers were excellent. They recited the specials in a natural way, made the silverware, water and wine appear and disappear without fuss and knew the menu.
Dessert (all $4.95) comes on a tray, an old-fashioned bit of business that I rather like. ,All are excellent versions of familiar classics. Chocolate mousse is bittersweet. Maker's Mark in the pecan pie cuts its sweetness and adds a grown-up flavor. Lemon sour cream pie is creamy, not super-tart. Each slice of chocolate mousse torte, encased in chocolate, could serve as a benchmark for all moist chocolate cake.
