Sensuous mushroom vol-au-vent, peppery steak brochettes and foolproof bouillabaisse finished off tableside are among the French delights at Café Bleu in Hillcrest.

The new eatery replaces Crush, which, in my opinion, lost its culinary steam to a terminally clubby atmosphere that offered little tranquility to serious diners. Café Bleu utilizes its eating space much better. Round café tables, smallish in size and equal in height, cover the floor from front to back. A couple of subtle antique sofas in the open layout match understated Victorian chandeliers, striking an artsy contrast to cobalt-blue bar lighting leftover from Crush. Dark cranberry walls, potted palms and rich hardwood flooring add warmth.

Owner Ric Libiran avoids typecasting the restaurant as “French,” preferring to call it “French influenced” since the menu carries several contemporary dishes, such as sautéed lump crab cakes, orange-fennel chicken and the noble-looking “bleu” burger I spied at a nearby table. Yet most items on the menu are French kissed nonetheless by cream sauces, provincial-style braising or savory herbs, offering much needed respite from sushi and Pad Thai.

The kitchen is headed by Chef Stephen Clickner, who made a local name for himself after opening Soleil@K and Rice at the W Hotel. His approach here is less edgy, more easy going – much like his stupendous chicken with red wine jus I remember ingesting at Soleil when comfort dishes began inching their way back onto the dining scene.

My supper companion and I encountered only two dishes at Café Bleu that we outright rejected. From the “hors d’oeuvres to share” category, a warm herb cheese crudité reads like a cherished meal passed down by shepherds of the French Alps: “Melted taleggio cheese blended in béchamel sauce topped with Parmesan and served with raw vegetables for dipping.”

Sadly, the concoction was served a notch below room temperature, tasting plainly like pure béchamel except when our dippers snagged an occasional fragment of the hardened Parmesan topping. The recipe screams for a feistier cheese.

French onion soup au gratin also surprised us with its lack of oomph, although I admired it for its non-salty essence. But either too much water was used in the batch, or a dozen onions never made it into the pot.

Then, like a dramatic sunrise occurring over Paris, our ensuing dishes brimmed with exceptionally golden flavors. The mushroom vol-au-vent is a must – a tower of puff pastry layered with wild mushrooms sautéed in herbs, garlic and white wine and served in a pond of mushroom cream sauce sporting a twirl of truffle oil. It’s a labor-intensive and filling “small plates” item priced at only $7.50.

Also satisfying was the Dijon salad made of watercress and endive, dressed with a mindful measure of mustard-based vinaigrette that unwittingly complimented an order of tenderloin steak brochettes seared medium-rare.

Our next stop was Chef Clickner’s bouillabaisse, which joyfully defies the traditional recipe in that he cooks the seafood separately from the broth. The technique brilliantly solves the problem of certain pieces of fish cooking faster than others in what is normally a violent boil. Here, you’re presented instead with a vessel of gently poached mahi mahi, shrimp, mussels, clams and a jumbo scallop, all of which the server douses with a tomato-fennel fish stock poured from a ceramic teapot. A narrow foot-long crostini bridged over the bowl clenches the deal.

We also ordered steak au poivre, hoping that the 10-ounce New York cut would match the savory pith of the aforementioned tenderloin brochettes. It did, but only after trudging through a few tough spots along the steak’s perimeter. A robust brandy-peppercorn sauce lacing the meat and seeping into cream-infused mashed potatoes was superb. And it reinforced our belief that Café Bleu must really come out to the ’hood as a veritable French restaurant.

Consider the other menu choices: a shareable charcuterie platter, duck leg confit, coq au vin and steak frites followed by dessert options like tart tatin, fig crème brûlée and mille feuilles. Despite the North American roots of the owners and chef, the food sure smells a lot like Provence to me. And nobody’s complaining!

Café Bleu’s global wine program is off to a good start as well, offering dozens of varietals by the half and full glass, along with such trendy cocktails as caramel apple martinis, 3-citrus mai tais and Chambord sparklers.

Service, however, is still shaky. With only two waitresses on duty the night we visited, they had to earnestly hustle their way through a full house – ours failed to clear empty plates in a timely fashion after loading us down with too many starter courses at the same time. But this is friendly, casual dining still in the flush of its debut – and in a most tasteful, affordable style that’s very easy to swallow.