Jackson Landing

Added Aug. 23, 2006: Chef Hal Goldman's canal-side restaurant lures you with the water view, but the new American cooking will make you return. Some highlights: lobster taco, crab cakes, "bbq pulled pork," tuna tartare, roasted halibut, lobster pot- pie, and a sweet-briny selection from the raw bar.

Fireworks have started at Jackson Landing. New, sharp and snappy, the restless restaurant revives this old waterside address with big flavors and chef-owner Hal Goldman's colorful style.

Goldman takes over the former Villa Doria, a creative Italian eatery that had a respectable run. He has removed the Venice prints, streamlined the decor and definitelyupdated the dining room.

Confident cooking, with accents European, Asian and American, define the inviting place. This isn't aimless globe-trotting. Goldman has an itinerary, with several must-eats.

Definitely begin with an order of crisp, fried artichokes, a domestic rendition of the classic Roman dish, carciofi alla giudea. Here, the gilded artichokes come with lemon-chive mayo and garlic butter. Share them while charting the rest of your meal.

Then, head to another locale with the lobster taco, an artful little construct holding sweet and tender shellfish, finished with avocado, yellow tomato salsa, avocado and a swirl of chipotle pepper cream.

The meaty lump crabcake is accompanied by a variation on cobb salad, chipotle-flavored aioli and a mango coulis. Basil-spiked sauce remoulade and tomato sauce go with the high pile of blond fried calamari.

Tuna tartare, goosed by capers, lemon and mustard, has a velvety texture. And Goldman's opener of pulled pork, with more of that chipotle aioli and mango salsa, turns southern and tropical -- a satisfying sandwich in waiting.

But the house's Caesar salad tastes routine, and the roasted vegetable salad is a bit flat, despite the rounds of fried goat cheese. Papardelle, broad ribbons of pasta, are fine, as is the braised short rib, but the brown sauce that engulfs it is pretty dull stuff.

Lobster pot pie contains generous chunks of shellfish. But the molto al dente vegetables get in the way, and the pastry coverlet is pale and bland. Instead, sample the vivid Thai fish pot: a combo of sea bass, mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops, with soba noodles, in a lush, creamy curry that delivers a subtle shot of heat. Snowy, roasted halibut floats on a saute of sweet peas, bacon and artichokes, joined by mashed potatoes and a zesty "roasted lobster fondue." Grilled salmon take a more herbaceous route, with caponata, couscous salad and a rosemary-lemon vinaigrette. The chile-marinated Kobe-style beef skirt steak is juicy, capped with ribbons of red onion jam.

Jackson Landing has a modest cheese board, punctuated with salami-like slices of dried fig. The sweetness continues with a homey apple cobbler and lighthearted peanut butter-and-jelly bread pudding. The white chocolate cheesecake trails the rich, obligatory molten-center chocolate cake. Enjoy the view. Jackson Landing is a sparkler.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti for Dining Out 06/26/05