RESTAURANT REVIEW : Cafe Vignes: A Bit of Bohemia in L.A.

The bleak, industrial loft district of Los Angeles was once a sea of green vineyards--acres of them. This is difficult, but not altogether impossible, to imagine, especially for those people who happen to be sitting by the window at Cafe Vignes, where one one can see young grapevines tentatively curling around an iron railing.

Of course, with a shift of a glance, the vines’ little wooden planter boxes come into view, as well as the parked cars and the warehouses across the street.

Tucked in an industrial brick building, with a high ceiling held up by mammoth wooden beams, Cafe Vignes is the kind of cafe more commonly found in Berkeley or Lower Manhattan--only roomier. The wood-topped counter is made of galvanized metal. The tables are warm laminated wood. There are bentwood chairs, a wood floor and good jazz playing at a low volume. Napkins and silverware sit in baskets on the table. We set our own table.

Across the street from the cafe, there is a big building full of newly renovated loft spaces for lease, which led me to think that Cafe Vignes’ clientele would be mostly artists, artisans, small manufacturers and other such folk who live and work in lofts.

But word has clearly spread beyond the immediate neighborhood; at lunch time there are tables of men in suits and other corporately clad office workers who’ve slipped away from the high-rises and government buildings further up the hill.

In the afternoon, when the nine-to-fivers are back at work, the self-employed drift in, and that’s when Cafe Vignes takes on its bohemian airs.

What makes Cafe Vignes finally so pleasing is the food itself. As modestly priced coffeehouses and lunch spots go, this is one of L.A.’s best. Chef-owner Takato Kato takes the flavors and the cool, precise freshness of Japanese cuisine and applies them in surprising and good-tasting ways to an otherwise standard array of soups, salads and sandwiches.

Certainly, one of the city’s best sandwiches is made on the premises. The Vignes roll is a hybrid, inspired in part by a spring roll, a California roll and a burrito. It is juicy chunks of grilled marinated chicken rolled up sushi-style with sprouts, long matchstick slices of cucumber and sauced with a light, spicy miso. It’s fabulous. A spicy tuna roll is similarly constructed with cucumber in a whole-wheat tortilla, only there’s also avocado and tuna salad spiked with wasabi (Japanese horseradish).

Sandwiches are served with a choice of salads, and although the rice salad and the tabbouleh were bright and satisfying, and the fresh green salad had a knockout vinaigrette, my choice would have to be the potato salad. The potatoes are partly mashed, held together with what I suspect is fresh cream and other good ingredients that change daily. One time, I found bits of carrot and cucumber in the salad; another time, thin, crunchy slices of apple were added.

A cool potato soup was pure white and milky: perfect for these unseasonably hot days. A bright yellow, soupy Japanese-style chicken curry, served on sticky rice, was boring; but another dish, the avocado stuffed with tuna, had a rich taste and a compelling texture.

A handful of entrees and specials are added to the menu for dinner at Cafe Vignes, which is served only from 5 to 8 p.m. I especially liked a tomato casserole, nothing but sliced tomatoes baked with mozzarella cheese and fresh herbs served with French bread.

The service staff is friendly but low-key and only intermittently attentive. Most of the time our needs were promptly tended, but we did have one bad moment watching one of our dinners grow cold at the counter, while our waitress, eating her own meal, ignored it.

The bottom line at Cafe Vignes is the coffee, which is as delicious and well-brewed as coffee can be. The lattes come in tall glasses; the iced coffees and cappuccinos are served with “liquid sugar,” which blends well with ice-cold liquids.

Everyone who came with me to Cafe Vignes wished that the cafe--or one just like it--would move into their neighborhoods. One artist friend, spoiled by the cafe life in Berkeley announced, “This is the first place I’ve seen in this town that makes a downtown L.A. loft seem livable.”

Cafe Vignes, 923 East 3rd St., Los Angeles, (213) 687-9709. Open Monday through Friday for lunch and early dinner. No credit cards. Beer and wine. Lunch for two, food only, $14-$28.