GADSBY'S TOWERING TRIUMPH.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

Several of the clouded-glass windows fronting the new Gadsby's restaurant just north of Wilshire Boulevard on La Brea Avenue show the Gadsby sign, which looks something like the Eiffel Tower.

The smart little restaurant is an eyeful throughout, and so are chef-owner Robert Gadsby's plates.

Gadsby, an artistic chef born in Bedford, England, who learned his cooking skills in Italy, France, Thailand, Singapore and Japan, has worked with Thomas Keller at Checkers and Fred Eric at the Olive and has earned a reputation as a clever, talented exponent of the contemporary ``fooditechture'' school of cooking. He's the person behind one of the most aesthetically expressive small dining rooms ever encountered in Los Angeles.

With the aid of co-designer Keith Greco, Gadsby brings a harmony of reflective patterns to a singularly stunning small interior space by taking the designs on his Japanese ware and duplicating them on glass panels around the restaurant.

Then, with the clever help of lighting, those patterns from the china are reflected on the walls of the dining room.

The room also features an engaging circular arrangement of wide-angle booths behind unusually wide diagonal tables topped with crisp white linen and gleaming glassware.

There are French and Italian touches in Gadsby's fare, obviously inspired by his time in the kitchens of Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, and Alain Chapel in France and Gualtiero Marchesi in Italy. As for a Japanese influence, Gadsby actually has a sushi chef and a small sushi bar in front of his view kitchen, and most of his complimentary little appetizer plates emanate from it.

All diners even receive a rolled wet towel in sushi bar fashion immediately after being seated.

Delicious soy-soaked tuna nestled with Japanese-style pickles or marinated yellowtail atop thinly julienned cucumber and daikon radish strips have been two of the on-the-house starters.

After this nibble, soup may be the best way to start a dinner here. You are reminded of Michael Roberts' original Trumps' potages when you order one of the trio of Gadsby's superb soups.

They are poured steaming hot from tall glass jugs into bowls that have already been delivered with something attractive in them. In two of the soups, a peppery, dark green asparagus and spinach puree ($7) and a ginger-tinged butternut squash soup ($6), Gadsby's kitchen places little centered dollops of mashed potatoes. With the green potage, lonely little stir-fried shrimps arrive perched on the potatoes waiting to to be enveloped by the hot liquid. Moist breast of chicken is placed in the same manner before the arrival of the tasty squash puree.

The most expensive soup and the seafood star of the threesome is a bright coral color, appropriately dubbed spiced lobster coral soup ($8). It sports a pretty lemon and vegetable mixture in the bowl prior to the pouring process. One time it even had the tiny bonus of black sevruga caviar eggs.

Startlingly effective are the remaining starters, all but one with an ocean emphasis. Gadsby pairs crab, cabbage and shiitakes with oven-dried tomato and a cardamom-flavored broth in one handsome, tasty effort ($12); and joins cured Tasmanian salmon with a leek terrine and a truffle vinaigrette ($9) in another.

Yet if I had to choose one, I'd choose his warm oyster croquette creation ($9) as my hors d'oeuvre pick most of the time. With the smashing croquettes there's not only delectable yellowfin tuna tartare but mushrooms, too. A parfait from paradise.

To some people, only pasta is true paradise. Gadsby makes a few pastas and a risotto cake for this avid segment of today's dining public. I prefer his ahi tuna entree dish ($18). He constructs a bed of medium-hot shishito chili peppers (they look just like peperoncinis) for his chunk of seared ahi and spikes them with a light vinegary sauce.

For heartier palates, his baked salmon with spinach gnocchi ($17) is a true delight, as is his Anglo-Gallic rendition of fall-off-the-bone navarin of lamb T-bone ($19), richly flavored with a juniper-boosted reduction and enhanced with crunchy root vegetables.

Whether it's a port wine-rich duck breast entree plate ($18) or a simple mesclun salad with a goat cheese and potato crostini ($7), you'll never feel deprived of that determined goal of bringing two strengths to your table in every dish, the best in taste and looks.

There might be a slight falter - such as the lack of assertiveness in the saucing of an entree of Maine lobster chunks with mashed potatoes and a garlic and eggplant mixture ($19).

But it's all so handsome. We even have a suggestion for Gadsby on naming of his tall filet mignon steak plate ($24). How about the ``eyeful tower''?

THE FACTS

The restaurant: Gadsby's.

Where: 672 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles.

When: Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays, for dinner from 6:30 to 11 p.m. (sushi bar until 1 a.m.) nightly except Sunday.

Behind the scenes: Robert Gadsby is chef-owner.

Recommended items: Soups (asparagus spinach, gingered butternut squash, spiced lobster), crab fondue with cabbage and shiitakes, leek terrine with house-cured salmon, yellowfin tuna tartare and mushrooms with oyster croquettes.

How much: Starters from $6 to $10, pastas and entrees from $12 to $24, desserts $6 each. Prix-fixe dinners $29, $35 and $49 each. Beer and wine. All major credit cards.

Wine list: Recommended wines with each dish are listed on the menu. Three-ounce tastes as well as wines by the glass are offered on a thoughtful wine list that sensibly includes a 21-label half-bottle selection.

Reservations: Suggested. Call [phone].

Our rating: Four Stars for food; Three and One Half Stars for service; Three Stars for wine.

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Photo

Photo: At his new restaurant, chef-owner Robert Gadsby, a n ative of Bedford, England, creates food that looks as good as it tastes. The experience begins with a wet towel for hand-washing and on-the-house starters.

Bob Halvorsen/Daily News