2424 PICO: WRITE DOWN THE ADDRESS.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

The plates of food at the new 2424 Pico restaurant in Santa Monica are dazzlingly colorful, utilizing combinations of globally influenced ingredients that produce a welcome variety of assertive tastes.

This narrow, storefront cafe, fashionably named after its address (you don't have to ask where it's located when someone tells you about it), represents the latest in the Los Angeles-area resurgence to national culinary prominence.

There's that casual, almost rustic, air about the place, designed by Michael Whitehouse, and seemingly effected without a ponderous expense.

The front portion divides into a glass-enclosed exhibition kitchen on the right and a windowed seating area of straight-back booths on the left. A long banquette runs from where the kitchen ends to the wine bar area in the rear, where tables apparently are placed farther apart and conversation din is less significant.

On a somewhat drab segment of Pico Boulevard, the restaurant doesn't stand out from its inconspicuous neighbors and is therefore easy to miss. But once inside and seated, a patron's attention focuses on food, drink and service, and that's really where 2424 Pico shines.

The kitchen takes a path of circumnavigation that leads it from dishes with Japanese monkfish liver, Mexican roasted poblano chilis or Korean seasoned beef, to things Greek, Middle Eastern, Spanish, French and Italian.

The wine list, constantly changing (slight differences on each of three separate visits), indicates a knowledgeable and conscientious selection process, though with only five bottles under $20 the last time, down from seven on the previous visit.

Yet a laudable number of 38 choices by the glass points out the strong wine commitment by this distinctive eating place.

And the reason for its distinction foodwise begins with such creative starters as its Korean tacos ($7.50) of crisp romaine leaves wrapped around deliciously aromatic rib-eye steak, accompanied by a refreshing cilantro and cucumber salsa; and seared ankimo (monkfish liver, the delectable Japanese fish foie gras, $8.50), which arrives on a grilled Asian pear with a nifty joining of sweet grilled onions and a gingered orange sauce.

The best-quality French beans (haricots verts) were paired in salad form with smoked chicken, sweet corn and walnut oil ($7.50) one time, and with Manchego cheese, quinoa (an increasingly popular South American grain) and red lentils ($6.50) another.

Steamed mussels (eight for $8) in a broth flavored with lime juice and coconut milk was a minor triumph one evening. And a skillfully crafted Greek salad terrine ($7) of layered roasted peppers, olive paste, feta cheese, roasted tomatoes and very thinly sliced cucumbers was sensational at the last visit.

Other memorable moments at 2424 have been offered by raw Hama Hama oysters; an herbed feta cheese-stuffed eggplant recipe; sea scallops in a surprisingly effective tangerine and tomato coulis; portobellos on a barley-quinoa-tomato bed; and a beef tenderloin and ankimo take on the classic tournedos Rossini dish, this with a rich cabernet sauce.

Possibly the eventual signature dish here is the killer game hen entree ($16), usually with a Persian-influenced pomegranate sauce or glaze and couscous, studded with either almonds or pistachios.

More down-to-earth main courses have included a massive roasted lamb shank ($15) in an explosive garlic and chipotle chili sauce, a mustard-coated grilled pork loin chop ($15) and an herbed beef fillet ($18) tinged with balsamic vinegar and served with a cheddar-stuffed Yukon gold potato and portobello mushroom.

Grilled peaches with a creamy mascarpone and caramel sauce and a soufflelike warm chocolate cake with chantilly cream seem almost anticlimactic after first and second courses here.

At more ordinary restaurants they might be highlights.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: 2424 Pico.

Where:2424 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica.

When: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays, for dinner from 6 to 10:30 p.m. nightly, to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Korean tacos, seared ankimo (monkfish liver), haricots verts salad, steamed mussels in lime juice-coconut milk broth, Greek salad terrine, game hen with pomegranate sauce and couscous, roasted lamb shank, grilled pork loin chop, herbed beef fillet.

How much: Starters from $4.50 to $8.50, entrees from $12 to $18, desserts $4.50 each. AE, MC, V. Beer and wine. (Full bar license pending.)

Wine list: Excellent changing list of some 55 labels with about 70 percent available by the glass. Only five under $20. Recommended: '95 Long ($24) and '94 Caymus ($22) sauvignon blancs, '93 Altamura sangiovese ($32).

Reservations: Needed. Call [phone].

Our rating: Four stars for food; three and 1/2 stars for service; three and 1/2 stars for wine.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Chef Mohammed Avros, left, and owner Mike LaRue disp lay some of the fare at 2424 Pico in Santa Monica.

Phil McCarten/Daily News