Bastide, in a class of its own

THE blue door, shuttered for more than a year and a half, is open once again, and the stage is set for Act 3. Step in, and you're welcomed with the offer of an aperitif in the enchanting garden where a pair of gnarly olive trees cast lacy shadows on the wall, water falls into a basin, and the air is scented with lavender.

Order Champagne and the sommelier waltzes over with a double magnum of vintage Champagne one night, pours an unusual Sacy rose another time. You might be served breadsticks with transparent gold potato chips and spiced nuts or slender, cheese-laced churros that taste like New World gougeres. The effect is somehow so civilized, you find yourself relaxing into another rhythm.

Bastide is back. This time around, the West Hollywood restaurant feels less formal and a lot more fun. It's Bastide, unbuttoned. Instead of a focus on strictly French cuisine and wines, the menu, which consists exclusively of two prix fixe tasting menus, presents chef Walter Manzke's polished contemporary French cuisine spiced with subtle Asian accents. The wine list from sommelier Pieter Verheyde is phenomenally deep but also includes some wonderful bottles at moderate prices.

Service is as good as it gets in Los Angeles: From amuses to chocolates, the experience at Bastide is seamless. It's also lengthy, and so, just as in Europe, your table -- with its heavy silver, crystal wineglasses and embroidered linens -- is yours for the evening. All this at a price that's a bargain by European standards.

The result is a restaurant unlike any other, certainly in L.A., and probably anywhere else in the country.

This is restaurant as art form, from an inspired amateur. Owner Joe Pytka's day job is directing commercials. Famously uncompromising as a director, he's just as much a perfectionist when it comes to his restaurant. His pockets are deep enough to get whatever he wants, and it's always the very best -- an accomplished chef, splendid wines, the best ingredients available.

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Polished, subtle cooking

MANZKE, the new chef, is a Patina alum who garnered attention with his custom-tailored tasting menus as chef of L'Auberge in Carmel. Here, his cooking is polished and understated. It's very good. It's very correct, but, at this point, missing the strong personal stamp that makes magic on the plate.