Molly’s has struck gold. Chef Timothy Au, whose surname happens to be the symbol for the precious element, recently arrived to the hotel restaurant as executive chef with a produce-driven menu bejeweled with labor-intensive dishes.

“Clean and precise with rolling flavors,” is how Au describes his cooking style, craftily infusing Mother Nature at her tastiest into a litany of gourmet fare atypical to Downtown kitchens – and more uncertainly found in the nearby Gaslamp District.

Molly’s is a longtime favorite of mine because it serves as a quiet refuge from the slapdash dining scene, embraces you with impeccable service and has attracted top-quality chefs over the past decade.

Beginning with the previous chef, Brian Sinnott (now at 1500 Ocean and likely engaged in damage control after Sunday’s Union-Tribune grim report on food-safety violations), the restaurant brought to the floor sommelier Lisa Redwine, adding yet another coincidental surname to the operation. Pairing vino to Au’s diverse flavor profiles, she’s beefed up the bottle selection with more Old and New World wines, many of them hailing from small-production wineries that can be honestly termed “boutique.”

Au earned his recent culinary stripes at the five-star Mayflower Inn & Spa in Connecticut and San Diego’s A.R. Valentein. At Molly’s, situated one floor beneath the lobby at the Marriott Hotel & Marina, he’s lightened up the menu by largely replacing butter and cream with vegetable purees, rice and potatoes to thicken his dishes. And you’ll be pleasantly fooled.

The soup du jour, for instance, gave us a creamy smelting of turnips and Granny Smith apples reinforced by rice to mimic heavy cream. Officiating over the alluring flavor combo of the turnips and apples was Redwine’s adroit pairing of Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve from France’s Mareuil-Sur-Ay region – a delicate, citrusy bubbly you’d swear was tailor-made for this particular soup.

Au’s signature starter dish is eggplant Napolean, layered thinly and meticulously in the French sense with organic prosciutto, sage and white pesto. Adorning the dainty creation was a feisty marinara reduction that hit its target with a superb rose boasting flowery overtones.

“Rose is great for bridging gaps,” Redwine revealed as she continued pairing “juice” to our ensuing courses with scientific precision.

“Unbelievable,” I exclaimed to my dinner companion when washing down bites of jumbo asparagus with an Austrian Gruner Veltliner – a white varietal with mineral overtones that matched brilliantly to the earthy spears adorned with melted Brie and chilled grapefruit sections. My companion, a wine aficionado, was particularly impressed by the wine’s availability here, calling it a “discussion wine” that rarely shows up in restaurants.

Leaves from fresh leeks are used instead of sheet pasta as the casings for Maine lobster canneloni, another sensational first course garnished with Osetra caviar, fennel remoulade and reduced lobster stock. The tubes were filled with sweet, semi-pulverized lobster meat that was deceptively rich thanks to an invisible measure of mashed potatoes used as the binder.

Aside from shopping regularly for fresh produce at local farms, Au makes his own smoked sea salt, which surfaced in small, somewhat extreme bursts in his foie gras torchon. The heavenly fattiness of the goose liver was cleverly quelled by juicy pears poached in red wine and wild arugula, adding verve to the protein while disallowing it to dominate the flavors of the produce – Au’s trademark in nearly everything he cooks.

Not surprising, our entrees were climactic. My companion’s Colorado lamb shank glazed in pomegranate molasses set the stage for a comforting medley of slow-braised golden turnips, Medjool dates and caramelized winter squash. The normally grassy flavor of lamb was replaced by a subtle sweetness while the veggies thoroughly maintained their intrinsic flavors through the gentle cooking processes.

Competing for “best of show” with my Jidori chicken breast was herbed spaetzle served alongside the sliced, extra-moist poultry. The small, extruded dumplings depart from German tradition by taking a backseat to roasted bell peppers, pearl onions and grilled green garlic strewn throughout. Just as Au uses vegetables to steal away some of our attention from proteins, he applies the same generalship to carbs. Who needs dense mounds of pasta or potatoes in their stomachs when they can be tastefully bulked up with fresh, fibrous organics?

Pan jus from the chicken, delicately salted, gave everything on the plate a golden lining as it seeped into the veggie-loaded spaetzle and tender breast pieces sporting good crispy skin.

After switching to a few fine reds midway through our meal, we had pretty much hit our sugar intake for the evening, thus passing up dessert. Master Pastry Chef Rudi Weider makes the confections. And the dessert menu still offers tableside cherries jubilee, a vestige of the days when Molly’s was a haunt for surf-and-turfers and cigar smokers. The girl today is liberated, and she’s dressed for contemporary dining and some serious wine swilling.