velliott@MiamiHerald.com

"Miami's youngest professional chef" is opening a "quintessential Wine Country" restaurant in, of all places, Kendall, the e-mail said. The press release didn't mention the chef's age, so I'm thinking it's a Doogie Howser kind of thing and am intrigued.

It turns out Adrianne Calvo is 23, and someone whose food I tasted years ago when she was a student at Johnson & Wales. I remember it being quite good if slightly overwrought in that I'm-in-culinary-school kind of way. I also recall her unshakable self-confidence.

With now-flaming red locks and a quick smile, Calvo is tough to forget. The young -- but certainly not youngest -- Miami chef has been working hard since graduation to get media exposure (chefadrianne.com tells all) and, not quite two months ago, open her very own restaurant.

OK, the strip mall is a far cry from Yountville, but the ambitious, wine-themed eatery is comfortable and welcoming. The walls are mounted with wooden wine barrels and countless pictures of Calvo on vineyard tours. A handsome wood bar would be the focal point if not for all the TVs that were blasting Yanni, Andrea Bocelli and Cirque du Soleil on my visits.

An enticing lunch menu offers an array of simple sandwiches, homemade soups and sprightly salads. The best of the bunch are the "famous" chorizo sliders of spicy sausage and prime ground beef. The pair of plump mini burgers on smushy, buttery buns are hot, greasy and so very tasty, served with crisp and golden thin-cut fries.

Petite crab cakes are lightly battered and perfectly fried, but the filler-rich interior more resembles a croqueta. Salads have the right elements except for the extruded slivers of orange cheese. Otherwise, they were fresh and light, well-dressed and easy to like.

A thick, juicy, nicely seared fillet of mahi mahi is served over a divine pile of chunky-style mashed potatoes alongside asparagus so thin you could knit with them. The dish is brought together by a luscious chardonnay butter sauce with just the right lemon zing.

A tasty and aggressively seasoned pork tenderloin had a fabulous bourbon and ancho chile glaze, the meat itself nicely seared with a still-pinkish center. The steak au poivre, on the other hand, was underseasoned and overcooked.

All the plates shared lovely composition and impressive sauces, redolent of fresh herbs.

All 50 or so wines on the small, California-heavy list are offered by the glass, starting at just $5. The bad news is that price would have you quaffing a strawberry-pop-like Beringer White Zinfandel. Better options include such popular names as Bogle, Parducci, Simi, Jacob's Creek, Markham and Robert Mondavi, with bottles priced at $20 to $96.

It would be nice to see more vintages listed as well as a few boutique producers. The earnest servers were utterly clueless when we asked for help navigating the list, but then again they may not be old enough to drink.

The desserts we sampled wouldn't send me back onto the Palmetto any time soon. Creme brulee came with a perfectly sheer, glass-like layer of caramelized sugar, but the custard was grainy, cold and heavy. An odd passion fruit and mango bread pudding would have been OK without the off-putting squiggles of sour yellow and red fruit syrups. Thank goodness for the super-sweet and creamy dabs of coconut-rum dulce de leche.

All in all, it's a promising if uneven start for plucky young Chef Adrianne. With patience and experience, she may well live up to the hype.

Reviewed on June 28, 2007