Anthony's Homeport Keeps Up With Times

XXX Anthony's Homeport (fourlocations), Kirkland Marina, Edmonds Marina, Des Moines Marina, Shilshole Bay. Seafood. Lunch ($8 to $11) 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dinner ($12 to $16) 4:30 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday. Lounges, full liquor. Major credit cards accepted. Nonsmoking areas provided. Reservations (in order listed above): 822-0225; 771-4400; 824-1947; 783-0780.

Variations on a theme.

Back in the early 1970's, a curious restaurant phenomenon in the Seattle area (and nationally) called the ``theme'' restaurant enjoyed a brief but profitable vogue.

The themes might vary, but they involved costumed wait staff, set-decorator interiors and usually a historical point of reference, both in terms of food and theatricality.

We still have some with us. The Firnstahl-McHugh restaurants (now divided) were based on the 1890s-1920s New York saloon concept, elegant but robust, singing bartender and all.

Reaching farther back were the colonial-era replications. A string of Clinkerdaggers, Bickerstaff and Pett's steak-and-salad houses was begun by Rich Komen and Restaurants Unlimited on a merrie olde Englande theme. Al Silverman built Barnaby's (a novel notion out of Dickens). And Mad Anthony's, named for an American revolutionary war figure, was installed in Bellevue Commons.

All featured waitresses in scoop-neck costumes, copious servings, usually featuring beef, in a setting of rough-hewn beams, dark, smoky lighting and dart boards.

And all underwent profound transitions during the late '70s and '80s. Beef fell from favor. The feminist movement booted the costumes. Subdued lighting and dart boards - plus a native lack of training in feathered missiles - seemed likely to wing if not kill a percentage of the bar trade.

Restaurants Unlimited's Olde England gave way to international eclecticism with Scott's, Morgan's and Cutter's, and to the upscale bistro with Palomino.

Mad Anthony's spun off a seafood variation with, first, Anthony's Homeport at Moss Bay in Kirkland, and later three marina-outlook clones. They began innocuously enough with pleasant but undemanding menus, but by the mid-1980s took on the challenge of increased recipe sophistication (without pretense) and a genuine search for quality.

The result is a superior chain of local seafood houses that have no real link to Mad Anthony Wayne, other than his fading name on the papers of incorporation. I made three visits to Anthony's recently and was impressed at how splendidly the corporate quality (under the guidance of executive chef Sally McArthur) has progressed.

We started one dinner with Fresh Quilcene Cajun Oysters ($5.95), boldly seasoned, lightly floured and sauteed rare. Port Chatham Smoked Salmon ($6.95) was served with cream cheese, pickled asparagus spears from

Tucker Farms, red onions and (not enough) capers.

Calamari ($5.95) is - as far as I could tell - the only deep-fried item on the menu (I never saw French fry in the place), and it was adequate, if slightly tough, served with an addictive garlic-mayonnaise dip.

The late-winter run Columbia River Red King Salmon ($15.95; oven-broiled or grilled) are arguably the finest-tasting salmon in the world. We had ours grilled and it was flawless; moist throughout, slightly rare in the center, golden cross-seared on the outside. It came with sun-dried tomato basil butter, which we ordered in a side salver rather than melted over the large fillet.

Scallops Gremolatta ($11.95), despite the exotic-sounding name, were simply, expertly prepared. About 10 marshmallow-sized sea scallops were lightly floured, tossed with minced garlic and parsley and pan-fried in butter with a final splash of lemon juice. Vegetables - asparagus, sugar peas, carrots and new red potatoes - were exemplary.

Fresh Hawaii Big Eye Ahi ($14.95), also char-grilled, was served under a glaze of mild wasabi butter and a side dish of pineapple chutney.

Dungeness Crab Cakes ($9.95 at lunch; $12.95 dinner) were highly seasoned, sizzling golden brown and accompanied by mustard-garlic-pepper Creole Sauce. The sauce itself was terrific (something you'd like to run off into a corner with, along with a hot loaf of bread and a cold bottle of Chablis), but it overwhelmed the crabcakes, which were already potently assertive.

The menu has 36 standing items (including three steaks, a cioppino and a seafood fettucine) and a daily fresh sheet of a dozen seafood choices.

A Sunday brunch, featuring omelets, seafood, Apple Dutch Babies and homemade Blueberry Coffee Cake (and here it is only Friday) is served from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Don't try it without reservations.