dining out

Rave 552 (617) 426-0008 552 Tremont St. (South End), Boston Open Mon–Wed, 7 a.m.–11 p.m.; Thurs–Fri, 7 a.m.–midnight; Sat, 9 a.m.–midnight; Sun, 9 a.m.–11 p.m. AE, MC, Vi Beer and wine Up one step from sidewalk level

If I were opening a restaurant across the street from Hammersley’s Bistro and down the block from Truc, I’d be a little nervous about measuring up. If I had a name that suggested a druggy youth club, I might be even more nervous. But none of that seems necessary for Rave 552, which has bootstrapped its way up from kewl corner luncheonette to restaurant/wine bar on the strength of fun design, low prices, and carefully invested chef time. There is still plenty of room for growth, but nobody seems nervous, least of the all the customers.

The raviest dish at Rave 552 is probably the antipasto ($14), which combines tastes and teases tradition with wild abandon. Everything is laid out on a giant toasted wafer that tastes like it outgrew its role as the top of a quesadilla somewhere. My eye immediately went to an avocado shell filled with brown stuff that the server described as "olive pesto," but which is usually called "tapenade." That’s ground up olives, a wonderful contrast to the cool richness of a ripe avocado. This antipasto includes traditional items like slices of cheese (although brie is not usually antipasto timber) and prosciutto, but also a lot of fruit: orange slices, strawberries, apples, blueberries, and grapes that get confused with the black olives. Then there’s a skewer of yellow chicken saté (we’re not in Campania anymore, Toto) and another of grilled scallops and shrimp.

Almost as un-Italian are the crispy corn cakes with shrimp ($8), two greasy delights with a rich flavor of bell peppers and onions, topped with two very fresh-tasting shrimp. This comes with a delightful hot-sauce mayonnaise dip, but it was the corn cakes that really won us. Sometimes gooey is better than crispy.

Other appetizers are more traditional, cheaper, and larger. The "Rave Garlic Bread" isn’t special, but it’s loaded with garlic and made on huge slices of Italian bread. Caesar salad ($7) is made by someone who read Terry D. Greenfield’s 1995 book In Search of Caesar, and so discovered that Caesar Cardini’s original 1924 Tijuana salad was actually a dip-your-own idea with whole romaine leaves and no anchovies. The restaurant will take it back and chop up the lettuce for you if you want it that way. It’s otherwise a pretty ordinary caesar salad with oversize croutons. The mixed-greens salad ($5) is notable for marinated shaved fennel on top — a lovely flavor.

The main dishes all have a weakness, but they also each have a strength, and the prices make me rather forgiving. Grilled chicken ($10) is a few slices of tasteless chicken breast, but the underlying white beans are fully cooked and buttery-rich. Meatloaf ($10) is so generous and meaty that I didn’t mind the dry mashed potatoes, sweet gravy, and dull steamed broccoli and carrots. The latter are exactly the same shape and size as the peeled baby carrots I buy in the supermarket. This is either very lazy kitchen work or some postmodernist gesture so brilliant I am blind to its meaning.

"White Wine Shrimp Penne" ($12) — it must be the Internet that is dissolving punctuation and sentence order for native speakers of English — is an entirely competent dish of pasta and shrimp, with the strength of those very tasty shrimp again. For big spenders, the grilled flank steak ($16) is a fine piece of beef, correctly grilled, with nicely caramelized onions and a glaze of gorgonzola cheese that actually belongs on a more expensive steak with less beef flavor, such as filet mignon. Again, some diners would happily pony up another dollar or two to improve the mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. And a scallop special ($17) might actually lure people out of those expensive South End restaurants. Everything was excellent, from the five sea scallops to the underlying corn stew, the platform potato latke — er, galette — and the fresh arugula on that. Oh, I suppose the corn stew might be excessively bacony and peppery for some diners, but it would be right on the money at Tremont 647.

The wine list, which is newish, employs some very nice ideas. We had glasses of the ’99 McPherson shiraz ($7 glass/$23 bottle), which makes a very berry first impression; the ’97 Perry Creek merlot ($7/$25), which is more like real wine than a lot of the merlot around; and the decently fruity ’99 Alisa pinot grigio ($5/$19). On a slow night, the coffee ($1.67) was thin and bitter, but not burnt. The decaf was actually a little better.

Desserts are reasonably inexpensive (all $5), and rather good for the price. My favorite was a chocolate carrot cake, a rather neat idea if you don’t crave overpowering chocolate desserts, as the crunchy texture arouses much interest with just enough chocolate to keep you intrigued. If you do crave overpowering chocolate, the flourless chocolate cake has a little flour, but plenty of your drug of choice. German chocolate cake is somewhere between the two, with rather mocha-flavored frosting and a coconut layer in there somewhere. (My retirement plan is to bring in a co-author for entrées so I can specialize in appetizers and chocolate desserts.) Among the non-chocolate desserts, the strawberry cheesecake is rather good. Key lime pie has the right color and shape, but not the intensely sour flavor of Key limes. You can make a good Persian lime pie, but this isn’t quite it. Apple pie, with dead-limp crust and over-spiced, overcooked apples, is made by someone who prefers chocolate desserts.

Design is current and comfortable, with touches of camp and retro humor. Some booths have big couches and chairs for banquettes and weird lamps. An old soda-fountain floor of hexagonal tiles has been kept but not really restored. The rest is modern: comfortable booths and chairs, blue lights, and background sounds from bossa nova to techno-lite. I don’t like the use of coffee-table glass over white linen for tables because glass is such an unpleasant surface. The Plexiglas they use at Thai restaurants is warmer. Our servers were able and helpful — and swift when we needed to get to the theater. The crowds have yet to find Rave 552, but they will, and it will be interesting to see which crowds claim which time periods.

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com