Cimarron Hits the Southwest Trail

Like Cajun, Southwestern cooking is a good regional style that’s been gimmicked up. The same trend-conscious restaurants that swore by blackened redfish became sudden converts to blue corn and ancho chiles when the Cajun phenomenon ran its course. Bad Southwestern restaurants resulted. Several have already closed.

But two weeks ago, a brave new Southwestern restaurant opened for business in Beverly Hills. And though you are greeted by earth tones and the usual cactus/cow-skull themes--not to mention the faint scent of sandalwood incense--Cimarron is not a typical me-too restaurant. The chef, Jimmy Lynn, worked as sous chef at Jeremiah Tower’s Stars in San Francisco and for Robert del Grande at Houston’s Cafe Annie.

Lynn’s food is quirky, but more interesting than the usual Southwestern cliches. He serves blue corn shrimp enchiladas, but sauces them with remoulade. Elk tenderloin and steam-fried venison dumplings show up, and turn out to be well-conceived dishes. There are straightforward dishes too--poached salmon with a red pepper sauce and a grilled veal chop with rosemary and garlic.

Cimarron, 301 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, (213) 278-2277. Entrees $15.50-$23.