Some cooks have the knack of combining flavours in such an elemental way that their work can enjoy a touch of intuitive brilliance. Adrian Roche seems to have that talent. Years ago, he cooked a dish of brill with vermouth and shiitake mushrooms, when he was head chef of Rosleague Manor, in Connemara, and it was one of those classics that could knock your socks off.
It would be a happy chef who could pull off one such dish in a career, but Adrian Roche has clearly not been idle in the years since he worked in the west - he has most recently been working north of the Border - and his new Dublin restaurant, Jacob's Ladder, on Nassau Street, already has a couple of classic starters.
The first is his shellfish coddle - a fish version of the traditional, but substantially lighter on the palate, he explains. With a combination of clams, mussels, oyster and a couple of little salmon sausages, he tricks the stew out further with turned courgettes, carrots and potatoes. The combination, in a light fish broth with a touch of cream and a scattering of chives, is fabulous, the Dublin staple taken to a new height.
The second dish is a smart pairing of pan-seared scallops with roast beetroot, and once again this is a dish with inarguable flavours. The sweetness of the scallop and the sweetness of the beetroot is just right, the contrast of the colours is handsome on the plate, and a little addition of spiced lentils is almost unnecessary in this wham-bam starter.
It is no surprise, when you see this sort of cooking, to be hearing Walter Fagen on the stereo at the same time. Roche is a clever cook whose work enjoys a playfulness and archness, but which is nevertheless assuredly hip. Apart from the food, the redesign of this room - formerly the Runner Bean restaurant - from a bedsit-chic space into a cool, classical area with simple wall paintings, is a joy to behold. At lunchtime, when the grand windows afford a view over the Trinity College playing fields, it is a delight, but in the evening there is an intimacy, a genuineness, about the space.
Indeed, genuiness is the tonic quality of Jacob's Ladder. Gary, the waiter, will be known to many from working in various Dublin restaurants, and he has a wit about him which is well-judged. He is an enthusiastic wine buff, and his list is devoted exclusively to New World wines, from inexpensive South Africans to pricier reserve Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons from the Napa and Yarra valleys.
To follow the starters we had roast wood pigeon with a corn galette, elderberries, parsley sauce and braised potato, and here the great touch was an excellent parsley sauce, tricked out with a little spinach, sitting on top of the construction - Adrian Roche likes to place things one on top of the other, in the modern style, though not to the extent of some other male chefs. It was a busy plate of flavours, but the distinct tastes were well unified, and nothing was used simply for show.
My dish of smoked pork with Savoy cabbage, herbed mash, glazed turnip and a grain mustard sauce was beautifully orchestrated, the mash topped with ribbons of perfectly cooked cabbage, a chop of the smoked pork on top sliced across; the turnips and mustard sauce were made for each other. Though Adrian Roche has lots of "cheffy" touches in his work, this dish shows how he can do the grandma's cooking as well. With a bottle of Penfolds fine Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvedre, it made a for good, autumnal, ruddy food.
Our desserts weren't as confident as the savoury cooking, a lemon brulee with raspberry sorbet had been overzested with lemon, while a stylish pot of chocolate with a white wine sabayon and a cool mint ice would have been better with a richer chocolate flavour.
THESE are the sort of details which Adrian Roche and his wife, Bernie, will iron out over the weeks and months, but for the meantime, here is a promising, individual restaurant with a couple of sure bets under its toque after only a couple of weeks' business. Prices are decent - ranging from spiced tomato soup with herb dumplings at £3.75 up to £6.20 for the shellfish coddle, while main courses range from £12.50 for a vegetarian dish of twice baked squash souffle to £16.50 for fillet of beef with truffle-scented parsnip and a wild mushroom ravioli. Desserts are from £4.50 to £5.50.
The lunch menu is simpler - tossed Jacob's salad with a burnt Caesar dressing; seafood chowder with treacle bread; fillet of cod with garlic mash; salad of feta cheese with a wild mushroom salsa; marquise of chocolate with orange custard; lemon tart, or you can have just a bowl of soup or a main course.
"Our aim is to make it the kind of place where everyone feels at ease," says Roche, a genuine, modest ambition which he achieves.
Jacob's Ladder, 4-5 Nassau Street, Dublin 2 tel: 01 670 3865, fax: 01 670 3868. Open: lunch 12.30-2.30 p.m., dinner from 6 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Major cards.