Ashland, 3: Amuse

Ashland, Sept. 19—

I LIKE THIS RESTAURANT because the menu is well-conceived and the kitchen ably staffed, and I like it because it is called Amuse, a name — a word — rich with possible meanings. Toward the muse? Without the muse? Or simply amusing?

Whatever, it's a restaurant we dine at only perhaps one trip out of three to Ashland, partly because it's not that attractive to other members of the group — we come here annually with three other couples, of varying tastes and enthusiasms. Tonight though we dine alone: we've seen the stage version of Pride and Prejudice already. Off to Amuse ourselves, then, with a French-flavored dinner.

Interesting, because so many dinners seem to have an Italian direction these days, Italian or vaguely Italian, or of course "California," which often turns out to have a strong yearning for something between Nizzese and Tuscan style.

My amuse-bouche was a thimblefull of "roasted carrot soup," creamy and beautifully flavored, and afterward I had romaine leaves with Reggiano shavings and little deep-fried shavings of garlic, in a creamy tarragon dressing. Then it was on to pork two ways: a fennel-flavored sausage and a nice moist loin chop, with shell beans and chard and piperade, in fact a few thin slices of red bell pepper sautéed gently à la Grecque.

Côtes du Rhône, Chateau d'Ampluis (E. Guigal), 2006, in half bottle

•Amuse Restaurant, 15 N 1st St, Ashland; tel. (541) 488-9000