New Max Restaurant Is No Ordinary Joe

After two years as chef at Linq on West 3rd Street in Los Angeles, Andre Guerrero has finally opened his own place, on the site of JoeJoe’s in Sherman Oaks. Astute remodeling and a pale palette have given this boxy storefront space an updated, sophisticated look. Mirrors hang over the plush, high-backed banquettes, and an intimate little nook has been carved out to one side of the main dining room. What a difference from JoeJoe’s warm, casual charm.

Recently I brought along some friends who live in the Valley to Max. Remodeling their kitchen, they’ve been forced to eat out every night for months. The good restaurants in the Valley are always the same, they complain: Posto, Pinot Bistro, and maybe Bistro Garden. But how often can you eat the same food?

Guerrero’s menu at Max, which is named for his younger son, is definitely different--as multicultural as Los Angeles. Carpaccio of beets comes with a Greek salad. A mushroom risotto is garnished with duck confit. Hamachi sashimi is paired with green tea soba noodle salad, and cod is cooked in an Indian spice masala crust.

One bite of the lumpia, like thin spring rolls with a shrimp and pork stuffing, and my friend pronounces Max better than anything in the Valley. Not that he jumps to conclusions or anything.

What’s sure is that in this small restaurant, Guerrero’s cooking has the chance to shine. Dainty chicken-mushroom dumplings bob in a Thai lemongrass-coconut soup. Miniature ahi towers are thatched with matchsticks of seaweed. And “hawker’s chicken,” chicken breast marinated and threaded on a skewer, gets a jolt from a puckery green papaya relish.

He even does a definitive version of New York pepper steak with a sharp blast of black peppercorns, served with sauteed spinach and a lovely Gorgonzola-potato gratin.

Leaving Linq and its trendy scene behind, Guerrero can now just focus on cooking. It must be nice.

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Max restaurant, 13355 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; (818) 784-2915; www.maxrestaurant.com. Appetizers $6.50 to $14.50; main courses $14.50 to $24. Open daily for dinner; lunch starts mid-May. Valet parking.