Bistro 45: Pasadena Eccentric

Expect a wait if you go for dinner at Bistro 45--even if you have a reservation. The restaurant is new and it’s packed. It seems everyone in Pasadena wants to check the place out.

The restaurant is a sort of merger of two Pasadena institutions. It’s located in the Deco-style building that was once home to the French restaurant Marianne and is run by Robert Simon, who used to co-own Pasadena’s French-Japanese restaurant Cafe Jacoulet. (Marianne’s chef/co-owner George Bardot is also part of Bistro 45’s management.)

Inside, the decor is very pink and the food is Pasadena-eccentric--which means it’s more politely odd than aggressively experimental. There is a distinct potato theme: Tuna sashimi is rolled around potato, and a potato crust surrounds grilled tiger shrimp. As expected with new restaurants, not everything works. The bouillabaisse tastes more of cream than garlic, but a lunch dish of wide pasta sheets filled with lentils and an earthy mushroom sauce is good.

There are, of course, more traditional California-cuisine entrees: pan-roasted squab, duck breast with raspberry sauce, a nicely cooked salmon served with its skin crisped, a good beef tenderloin. And it’s nice to find a restaurant with a cheese cart.

But one of the best things about Bistro 45 is its wine list, which is extensive, well-thought-out and, for the most part, fairly priced.

Bistro 45, 45 S. Mentor Ave., Pasadena; (818) 795-2478. Entrees $15.75-$19.50.