BEACH HOUSE NOISY, BUT TASTY.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

We're still waiting for Josie LeBalch to open her own restaurant, as she promised will happen in the not-too-distant future.

But meanwhile, the talented chef - whose dad, the late Gregoire LeBalch, operated Chef Gregoire in Sherman Oaks for several years - departed from Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas and hooked up this summer with her friend Liza Utter, ex-partner with Jean Francois Meteigner of La Cachette in West Los Angeles.

Utter's restaurant, the Beach House, has transformed the longshuttered ex-Les Anges building on Channel Road at Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, into a huge hit.

Opened this summer, the Beach House also may be one of the noisiest restaurants in town. Nobody, I mean nobody, whispers in this place.

I've eaten there twice, once in the bar and once in the main dining room, and can tell you that while your palate gets a most enjoyable workout from the fare, so do your vocal chords - perhaps not quite as enjoyable.

The Beach House is a sleek, neat, hip place. It's also one of the rare, new low-lit restaurants, which means that you have to hold the menu close to the candle to read it if you happen to be one of the few older persons in the place.

There's nothing wildly innovative about the fare produced in the kitchen of LeBalch and her assistant David Fouts (previously at Lumpy Gravy). It's basic contemporary American, but done very well.

You can start with a good corn chowder with potatoes and leeks ($7) or an intensely flavored du jour vegetable soup ($6) - one day recently it was a delicious pureed parsnip potage.

Steamers (clams and/or mussels, $10) are the smaller, tastier types floating in a beguiling white wine and shallot broth that needs extra bread for dipping even though this plate comes with garlic toast.

And the bread here is as good as you'll find in a restaurant.

The same applies to the earthy melange of wild mushrooms in a creamy sauce with puff pastry ($10). In addition to their terrific flavors, the mushrooms possess the perfect degree of crunch, the pastry retains its crispness, and the saucing is irresistible.

In the entree department, LeBalch has kept the menu simple and limited, allowing leeway for a few provocative daily specials.

She evidently knows what appeals to today's busy, young crowd. LeBalch smartly chose one of those dishes that used to be labeled homey, but that has been missing from a majority of homes for a generation or two.

Our grandmothers cooked pot roast of beef or veal. No one bothers anymore.

So just like Wolfgang Puck, who features some of his homey Austrian dishes at Spago, chef Josie brings a onetime American staple, braised veal casserole ($18), to the Beach House tables.

And it's a beaut.

A warming, comforting, almost stewlike preparation, the roasted veal breast and vegetable mixture is as enjoyable as your favorite sweater on a cold winter day. Yet it thankfully lacks heaviness.

Of her other comforting American food, lamb chops ($22) are tender and juicy, paired with fennel-flavored potatoes and a fine red wine sauce, and grilled chicken breast in pan juices with garlic mashed potatoes ($18) possesses enough flavorful, moist flesh to guarantee satisfaction.

You might notice that the kitchen makes parsnip potato pancakes to accompany its grilled salmon entree ($17).

Well, even if you don't get around to trying the salmon, be sure to order these very tasty pancakes as a separate side dish ($3). They'll add a dimension to anything chosen.

Back to the pan for a fish dish.

You don't see too many whole brook trout offerings, head still attached, around anymore.

This is another coup for LeBalch, who prepares this delicious fish without bones ($16) pan-seared in a light lemongrass sauce and sends it forth with perfumey, al dente vegetables.

Incidentally, with an amenable $10 corkage fee, you're better off bringing your own wine than purchasing a bottle off the Beach House list unless you don't give a darn about cost.

For example, I wanted a white wine with my trout. The person who devised this list must have a penchant for chardonnay. Only one bottled white wine of the 11 listed is not made with chardonnay grapes, whether French or Californian.

I wanted something flintier, leaner than chardonnay, so I ended up with an excellent sauvignon blanc by Brander, a '97, ticketed at $30. All the other wines, other than one chardonnay at $28, were priced higher, seven at $40 or more.

Desserts ($8) include such good old faves like bananas Foster and a nicely executed peach crumble, both delivered with a superior ice cream.

I really liked this restaurant. You'll just have to get used to its lofty decibel range.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: The Beach House.

Where: 100 W. Channel Road, Santa Monica.

When: Open for dinner only from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday.

Behind the scenes: Josie LeBalch is chef. Liza Utter is owner.

Recommended items: Soups, steamers, wild mushroom turnover, potato parsnip pancakes, braised veal casserole, lamb chops, maple grilled chicken breast, whole brook trout, peach crumble, bananas Foster.

How much: Appetizers and soups from $6 to $10, salads from $7 to $14, entrees from $16 to $22, desserts $8. Full bar. All major credit cards except Discover.

Wine list: Limited list with high markups (three bubblies from $30 to $300, 11 whites from $28 to $65, 14 reds from $20 (one label) to $70, eight wines by the glass from $7 to $10 each. Corkage: $10.

Reservations: Needed. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three and one half stars for food; Three stars for service; One and one half stars for wine.

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Photo

Photo: Beach House chef Josie LeBalch, left, holds a fennel salad, while assistant David Fouts displays campfire trout in the Santa Monica restaurant's main dining room.