Andaluca: Med Touch To The Mayflower Park

----------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurant review

XXX Andaluca, 407 Olive Way, Mayflower Park Hotel ($$ 1/2). Lunch ($5 to $12): 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Dinner ($9 to $21): 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; until 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday; 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Lounge, full bar. Major credit cards. No smoking. Reservations: 382-6999. -----------------------------------------------------------------

The transformation of Clippers at the Mayflower Park Hotel into Andaluca is both welcome and overdue.

The Mayflower, owned by Birney and Marie Dempcy, is one of the city's often overlooked treasures - a restored, almost antique hotel of enormous charm with a dedicated following and a bar that for two years running has been judged (fairly) to make the best martinis in town.

Yet, its old dining room was at once drab, uninspired and occasionally grim.

A month and a half ago, the Dempcys ushered in Andaluca, a colorful, dynamic and imaginative restaurant created by Kazzy & Associates (Kathy Casey and Diana Isaiou) along with chef Don Curtiss, formerly of al Bocalino. Magic began to unfold.

And crowds began to gather.

Part of the attraction is visual. Although relatively cozy (70 seats; 1,600 square feet), the interior design was by Bob Mesher of Mesher Shing, with dramatic murals by Robert Williamson and Irene Ingalls. The food artistry is similar; colorful, fanciful and almost flamboyant - but not flaky. Curtiss is too substantial a food professional to resort to mere theatricality.

The remainder of the appeal is grounded in culinary basics; good, good food lovingly prepared and bright, intelligent, superior service. Northwest, with an accent

The menu, as the name suggests, has a southern Mediterranean accent informing Pacific Northwest staples, such as Dungeness Crab and Avocado Tower with palm hearts and a gazpacho salsa ($9 for an entree-sized salad) or Mediterranean Mussels Madrid ($6.75, even if no mussels dwell in Madrid), done with a tomato-and-onion bread-crumb dressing, crisp-broiled and served with a sherry-saffron aioli. They're irresistible.

The concept of "sharable plates" (initiated with flair by Chris Keff at Flying Fish) heads the menu here. Basically, expanded appetizers (from $3.75 for potato and onion-egg tortillas, to $8.50 for crisp-fried duck cakes with apricot chutney and raita) invite massed informal dining; i.e., you don't have to order entrees at all. In fact, the Seared Smoky Beef Carpaccio, done with rather too well-marbled, thin-sliced prime tenderloin ($7.50) with a nesting array of field greens and a compelling mustard-horseradish sauce, is quite a meal in itself.

Panzanella Salad ($5.75) combines grilled rustic bread, arugula, toasted pine nuts, currants and frisee (curly endive) in a balsamic vinaigrette. It's appealing, but the toasted fingers of bread were never quite integrated into the salad, remaining - like croutons - as a crunchy augmentation. Chef Peter Levine's version (with added ingredients, such as white beans, celery and Roma tomatoes) at Isabella, a few blocks away, is more representative of the real thing. Marvelous shellfish stew

The Zarzuela Shellfish Stew ($16; a Catalonian bouillabaisse) was masterful. The cumin-laced broth, filled with prawns, clams, mussels, a small piece of octopus, cod and baby potatoes, was swirled with a finishing dollop of saffron aioli. It made one grateful for the offered extra bread.

Vegetarians will be delighted with the Vegetable Mezze ($9), with a marinated white bean salad, a roasted wild mushroom relish along with roasted artichoke hearts, anise beets and asparagus spears with a pistachio balsamic vinaigrette.

Cabrales Crusted Beef Tenderloin ($21) appeals to another sector of the populace. It's an absolutely seductive cut of prime filet, grilled and then topped with a Spanish blue cheese-bread crumb mixture that has been crisped under heat. It's served alongside a pile of somewhat chunky mashed potatoes, with a pool of Marsala glaze and two sections of grilled pears.

Another must-try entree is Seared Lamb Loin in Vine Leaves ($19.50), rolled with serrano ham and fresh herbs and presented with vibrant paprika mashed potatoes.

Andaluca Romaine Salad ($5) is a pleasant finisher (if you want to dine like a Spaniard, greens last) with shaved manchego cheese and a scoop of outstanding tabbouleh anchoring the stems of romaine lettuce.

Lemon Mascarpone Custard in a puddle of flower-adorned citrus syrup with a scattering of mixed berries is enough to start the flamenco dance in your head. (Copyright, 1996, 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.