After an eternity of anticipation fueled by a series of sneak previews and soft openings, downtown elan has finally arrived to Hillcrest in the form of Dish, the culinary arm to Universal nightclub.

For many, the lushly designed Dish has become old hat, yet not stale, given the steady raves I keep hearing from those who began streaming in for brunches and dinners ever since the doors officially opened a couple months ago. Never one to storm the frontlines for blockbuster movies, new gadgets or hyped-up restaurants, I allied with the minority of holdouts for Dish, a virgin to its food if I discount the pass-around hors d’oeuvres I ingested at an early media party.

Wildly patterned applewood flooring and gold-painted driftwood combined with a chic-n-earthy color palette set a lush vibe for comfort food stamped with gourmet twists and copious herbs. Chef Antonio Friscia is the anchor chef for EnDev Enterprises, which operates Dish and Universal, as well as Stingaree, Bar West and Ciro’s pizzerias. His menu at Dish, however, feels more ambitious, pulling into his creations intensely flavored ingredients that breathe new life into seemingly common fare.

Friscia uses wonderfully bitter dandelion greens, for instance, to raise the bar on an appetizer of good-looking pork and beans, constructed with a mix of shell beans and sinfully fatty pork belly on top. The recipe diverts recklessly from the canned stuff that we all grew up on, although our tongues gave it a fervent welcome.

Tarragon plays a leading role in green goddess salad, recommended to me by a Dish fan just prior to my visit. The salad is indeed dreamy in that it mixes velvety butter lettuce with lots of soft, finely diced hardboiled egg. Toss in a rich, thick dressing infused with the sweet-tasting herb, and you end up with a salad that doesn’t know when to tell you to stop eating.

“Reminds me of being on a picnic … like eating gourmet egg salad with lettuce,” my companion commented.

And speaking of the herbs used here, there’s a strong difference between “corporate herbs” and those bursting with high-powered spunk from local organic gardens, which Friscia uses prolifically. Wherever basil, sage, tarragon, or thyme show up (the latter practically upstaging a house-made chicken liver pate included on a meaty antipasti we tried), their flavors remained stalwart in the face of most other ingredients – an observation rather than a criticism.

In another starter of sautéed Mexican blue prawns, the sauce was so tasty from garlic, shallots, chili flakes and lemon that we could’ve embraced it as soup, although you can bet that we employed it as a dipper for our table bread from Bread & Cie. The prawns were smallish in size (the word “prawns” not a realistic indicator of “big”), but it didn’t matter given the delicious liquid they bathed in.

Mac-n-cheese is also on the starter or “tease me” list, a dish I generally avoid out of redundancy, but of which I recommend here. As an appetizer, it’s technically a belly-busting meal when you consider the ingredients: thick shell-like pasta, double Gloucester cheddar, giant garlic cloves and Nueske bacon.

What’s “Nueske?” you might ask. It’s a Wisconsin company famous for its premium applewood smoked meats. And its bacon is meatier and juicier than most, lending a fiercely homey pith to any other food it touches.

From the entrée category called “Get Some,” my interest was piqued by wiener schnitzel, made German style using pork instead of veal, as the Austrians maintain. The restaurant’s native-German sous chef Thomas Kremp created the entrée, although its staging was expectedly non-traditional. The filet was glittered up by cabbage spiked with star anise and berries, plus mushroomy spaetzle boasting snips of strong, fresh sage. It’s German at the core, but with a newfangled, American-metropolis finish, at least compared to the dozens of simpler wiener schnitzels I’ve eaten throughout Deutschland.

My companion opted for roasted Muscovy duck breast, each slice beautifully rare in the center and sweetened with plump grilled figs and apricot gastrique. The fruits matched the duck adorably, even better than the more sanctioned fowl embellishments using oranges or cherries.

For side dishes, we ordered mashed potatoes that were neither special nor offensive. A bowl of “farmer’s market veggies,” however, impressed us with “purple haze” carrots and a bounty of other super-fresh, perfectly par-cooked organics that confirm summer is upon us.

Stuffed to the gills, we could only allow our eyes to indulge in the dessert menu. How do warm, house-made donuts strike you? Or a “bangin’ banana split?” Right down to the finishing line, Dish keeps you squarely buckled into a comfort food zone.

Friscia spends most of his time at Dish, which he considers a playground for bringing his new inventions to a neighborhood known for its expanding palates. He also utilizes his certification as a sommelier for developing the wine list, which contains smatterings of desirable Rhone blends, smoky cabs and Old World varietals from Italy.

A lively garden patio that summons you for post-dinner libations separates Dish from Universal, although you can drink or eat nearly any of the house offerings from just about anywhere you choose to perch. Dish and Universal are stylish, hospitable haunts that Hillcrest has easily bowed to thus far. And in my opinion, both have been worth the wait.