BEL-AIR FARE FLAVORFUL WORK OF ART.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

The Bel-Air Bar & Grill has become a destination restaurant, thanks to its proximity to the new Getty Center.

Located across the street from the prestigious art museum, the Bel-Air Bar & Grill has gotten more attention lately, but it still portrays itself as a friendly neighborhood rendezvous. By not possessing such illusions of mightiness, it has achieved a warm, endearing quality. They're polite when you call for a reservation, welcome you at the front door, and have an attentive staff that handles crowds without tension.

Its chef, Robert Lia, came from the revitalized 72 Market Street in Venice, where he worked with talented chef Roland Gibert and had a major part in putting together Gibert's recently released cookbook.

Lia's dinner menu is an open invitation to all. It indicates that the restaurant is just as happy serving sandwiches, pastas and salads as main courses during the dinner hours as its more expensive meat and fish entrees.

In fact, its appetizer list has items such as a sprightly rendition of scallops in a peppery black bean sauce ($11.95) that could satisfy a smaller appetite as a main course.

Lobster ravioli ($12.95) and seared ahi tuna with a timbale of white rice ($11.95) are others.

A trio of salads can be had conveniently in small or large portions, the best being a superbly refreshing arrangement of arugula and watercress with a balsamic vinaigrette, candied walnuts and crumbled roquefort.

In this salad ($6.50 small, $9.50 large) the bitter and tart qualities of the arugula and watercress are offset by the touches of sweetness in the balsamic and the sugary aspect of the candied walnuts. Then there's the pungency of the roquefort and the crunchiness of the nuts. Great combination. And nicely presented.

Lia makes three soups daily, one a changing du jour offering, one a cooling gazpacho for the summer and the third a neat combination of creamy parsnip with ginger ($5.50).

Like the more familiar carrot and ginger soup, this has a tad less sweetness but is just as satisfying.

Because it's a bar and grill, it makes sense to try the grilled entrees here. Probably the most interesting is the grilled pork tenderloin ($16.50) paired with wild rice studded with currants and pine nuts plus a jog of spicy corn in relish form.

The Bel-Air's classic grilled New York steak ($18.95) - cooked exactly as ordered - comes to the table thick and juicy with a fair-size baked potato while getting a boost from a rarely seen accompaniment - a nifty execution of jicama coleslaw.

And marinated chicken breast ($11.95) not only has its own good flavor but the added interest of deliciously sauteed fresh fennel in a mixture referred to on the menu as ``fennel ratatouille.''

Lia smartly adds a marsala wine and morel sauce to his filet mignon ($19.95), though this steak could use a potato or noodle addition to give it some gratifying heft.

As for the sweets, there are plenty of dessert choices, mostly familiar stuff, headed by a respectable if slightly eggy souffle (Grand Marnier or chocolate, $7.50) that only took 12 minutes to make one evening.

Another time the assorted sorbets ($4) provided a refreshing ending.

There are enough well-chosen wines in all categories on the wine list, but there's no indication that the cellar stocks a bottle of Moraga wine made from grapes grown at the vineyard up the street from this restaurant.

But there is a shuttle to the Getty. Perhaps that makes more sense.

This comfortable restaurant, basically two dining areas and a cozy bar-lounge, has special sound- deadening panels thoughtfully affixed to the walls, allowing conversation to be heard across a table when normal voice tones are used.

That alone makes this a worthwhile dining choice.

Believe me.

The facts

The restaurant: Bel-Air Bar & Grill.

Where: 662 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Bel-Air.

When: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, for dinner from 5:30 to 10 p.m. nightly, to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Seared sea scallops with fermented black bean sauce, cream of parsnip soup with ginger, watercress and arugula salad with roquefort, grilled pork tenderloin with spicy corn relish, grilled New York with jicama coleslaw and baked potato, filet mignon with marsala sauce and morels, assorted sorbets, souffles.

How much: Starters and sandwiches from $4.50 to $13, pastas and entrees from $9 to $20, desserts from $4 to $7.50.

Full bar. AE, MC, V.

Wine list: The list of around 50 labels, complete with vintage dates, appears to be a fairly conscientious choosing, and it ranges in price from $15 (three choices) with actually nine bottles under $20, to the $135 Dom Perignon. Wines by the glass run from $4 to $8. Corkage: $10.

Reservations: Suggested. Call [phone].

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

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Photo

PHOTO Bel-Air Bar & Grill chef Robert Lia, left, and owner John Herzberg serve up two of the restaurant's specialties. Though the restaurant has gotten more attention lately, it still portrays itself as a friendly neighborhood rendezvous.

Phil McCarten/Daily News