Maddox Grill Does Wonders With Mesquite

Restaurant review

XXX The Maddox Grill, 638 N.W. Richmond Beach Road. ($$) Seafood, steaks, chops. Lunch ($5.50 to $10) 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Dinner ($11 to $25) 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 10 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Brunch ($6 to $9) 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Full bar. Major credit cards. No smoking. Reservations: 542-4766. -----------------------------------------------------------------

It looks from the outside like a converted burger or ice cream stand, and it is. But don't let that put you off.

The Maddox Grill, halfway down the hill to Richmond Beach, is a remarkable little enterprise; a tiny kitchen with big aspirations - most of them fully realized.

It also has a bit of local culinary history. The grill was converted into a full-menu restaurant of some esteem, called Brownie's Seafood Broiler, by the peripatetic Mike Brown, more than a decade ago.

Brown went on to create (and sell) the Rain City Grill on North Capitol Hill and, later, Da Vinci's Flying Pizza in Kirkland.

His original broiler was taken over by Rick and Sue Maddox five years ago. They tossed out his butcher paper table coverings (with attendant jars of crayons), but not too many of his concepts: notably, mesquite-grilled fresh fish, innovative pastas and ornate salads, all at moderate prices, and with a sense of style and artistry that belied the modesty of the small (20 table) dining space.

I've been there four times recently, and have yet to be disappointed.

Off to a good start

The menu at dinner is headed by a few appetizers, including an excellent Grilled Eggplant ($5.95), hugely popular Crab Cakes ($7.95 for a fragrant pair, nestled in a red pepper aioli) and something called the Mini-Mezza ($5.95).

This is not a diminutive soprano, but a smaller portion of a rich, elaborate and colorful pasta plate, which shows up on the dinner menu for $12.95. Try it at least once, although you might want to split the full portion with a friend.

The half-moon-shaped ravioli are filled with smoked mozzarella cheese and sauced with smoked chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, onion and walnuts in a red pepper butter sauce. It's as flavorfully compelling as it is attractive. Indeed, if anything, it verges on being too intense.

You can follow up an appetizer with a soup or salad, but that might finish you off. Portions are large, even the small romaine Caesar salad ($2.95 and $6.50, depending on size).

The Caesars are excellent, tartly dressed, and available with a generous topping of Dungeness crab for a surcharge.

Other salads are more suitable as meals, especially the Poppy Salad ($4.95 and $7.95), with avocado, toasted almonds, mandarin oranges and teriyaki chicken strips tossed with a sweet-tart poppy seed dressing and ladled over mixed greens. Hot scissor rolls come with it.

"The Bread Bowl"

A must-try item is "The Bread Bowl," $8.95, or accompanied by the house Poppy Salad or a Gorgonzola-Pear salad for a dollar more. The latter, incidentally, is superb, with ingredients of poached pear, candied walnuts and chicken strips in a hazelnut vinaigrette dressing.

The "bowl" is a round loaf of mild sourdough with the top cut off, the inside partially scooped out and creamy clam chowder inside. The top of the loaf is then brushed with garlic butter, grated Romano and oregano, before being toasted and set back atop the chowder loaf.

The chowder, buttery and mellow, is augmented with diced carrots and red potato quarters, but could have benefited from more clams.

It's possible to finish the soup, the lid and maybe most of the salad - but I can't imagine anyone consuming the whole loaf bowl, although I'm told it's often attempted.

Entrees are priced from $12 to $19 a la carte; $18 to $24 for four-course dinners, which includes a terrine, soup or salad and a house-made cheesecake dessert.

The heart of the operation is the mesquite grill, and Maddox does highly capable work with it.

Token offerings of red meat are available, such as a peppered New York strip with brandy-cream-peppercorn sauce ($16.50) and a Zinfandel-marinated Rack of Lamb with rosemary ($19.95), but the seafood grills are the real draw.

A recent halibut special ($10.95, with salad and cheesecake dessert included) was exemplary. A large fillet, grilled to tender perfection, cross-hatched with grill marks, and served with grilled vegetables (yellow squash, mild white onion quarters and red bell pepper) was surrounded by a pool of dill cream sauce, dotted with rounds of cucumber.

The cheesecakes are, alas, irresistible. (Copyright, 1994, John Hinterberger. All rights reserved.) John Hinterberger, who writes the weekly restaurant review in Tempo and a Sunday food column in Pacific, visits restaurants anonymously and unannounced. He pays in full for all food, wines and services. Interviews of the restaurants' management and staff are done only after meals and services have been appraised. He does not accept invitations to evaluate restaurants.