In a most soothing and understated style, Roseville rocks. Billed as a French-Mediterranean restaurant, proprietor George Riffle applies his past experience as general manager of Laurel, Blanca and the Ivy Hotel to the sleepy village center of Point Loma, which has until recently remained underserved by anything you can remotely call “fine-dining.” (The nearby Pearl Hotel restaurant kinda-sorta took that daring first step.)

Roseville is named after this former settlement founded by San Diego’s first Jewish land investor, Louis Rose. But don’t look for any memorials or history lessons here on the man. You’ll have to Google him to get the full story on his fascinating quest of amassing properties throughout San Diego, which was met with both success and rivalry until his passing in 1888.

Roseville customers are greeted with a quirky exterior design. The front of the restaurant actually starts from a rear entrance, where ample parking is conveniently available. Meanwhile, the building’s windowed face seen from Rosecrans Street is covered plainly by interior draperies, offering zero flash and little indication that it’s even open for business.

It is from the back “front” entrance where customers proceed through a quaint anteroom dramatized by an antique mahogany door with beveled glass. Inside is a “dining counter” with views of the kitchen, a handsome wine room and an airy main seating area adorned with framed mirrors, large paintings and comfortable booths and banquettes. A faux copper-stamped ceiling adds a wisp of classic charm.

Chef Amy DiBiase, also a former Laurelite, delivers the culinary punch in the form of French-inspired fare laced with contemporary overtones. In other words, she doesn’t send out dishes swimming in hardcore cream sauces. Her food instead is lifted mainly by herbs, purees and reductions – and OK, a little Muscat crème flavored with white peaches that she saddles up to foie gras torchon braised in aromatic white wine. For that, my companion and I paired the only sauterne on the wine list, a French label, which we felt lacked age and complexity, thus failing to deliver that famous roasted flavor that communicates so swimmingly to organ meat.

In the case of a stupendous asparagus salad we tried, a warm soft-cooked egg and bits of pancetta injected due richness. Watercress and truffle vinaigrette also played into the scheme, which made it impossible for me to get excited over the Bosc pear salad that my companion ordered. The combination of pears, endive, candied nuts and crumbled blue cheese, however tasty, is growing old for me.

Another starter, ricotta gnudi (doughless ravioli) are perhaps a notch too rich to graduate to entrée status, although you kind of wish they would. DiBiase nonetheless reigns in their potential heaviness by using squash puree in lieu of common butter or cream sauces. Tarragon and earthy maitake mushrooms enter into the clever equation as well, ingredients that stand in good company with mellow ricotta.

Just in time for autumn is rutabaga soup, a plain-tasting puree finished with a tuft of foamy brown butter. We contradicted ourselves by declaring it underwhelming before polishing it off with unconscious gusto. Other first courses include herb-crusted albacore, Carlsbad mussels and oysters on the half shell, all of which I’m told are fresh and satisfying by other foodies who have come before me.

Ditto for the classic duck confit on the entrée list, which trusty bloggers and reviewers have effused over as well. So we instead looked to lamb rib eye and Tasmanian salmon to test different waters. The lamb arrived medium-rare as ordered. Sliced into even medallions, it offered the texture of filet mignon and the sweet, mild flavor typical of young lamb. Although a moat of salty black olive jus on the plate tasted too harsh against the meat’s subtle pith. My companion, however, didn’t mind.

The salmon was thick and excellent, translucent in the middle and sporting ultra-crispy skin on one side after being pan-seared and then quickly baked in a very hot oven. A memorable relationship was struck between the delicate flavor of the fish and the onion-y apple-shallot puree served alongside. Hints of smoky bacon also appeared, making this one of the liveliest preparations of salmon I’ve witnessed in a long time.

In addition, DiBiase offers a daily fish cooked en papillote (in parchment paper), a healthy and easy cooking technique that evades a lot of local kitchens for some reason. Sunfish was the catch of the day on the night we visited. Other entrees include vegetarian risotto, Meyer Ranch flat iron steak with blue cheese butter, braised Berkshire pork cheeks and seared diver scallops.

For dessert we swooned over pumpkin chiffon cake with candied pecans, as well as a dense puck of chocolate cake incorporating chocolate mousse and topped with fruity blackberry sorbet – both very good.

If Louis Rose were still around, there’s no doubt that he’d be proud to have Roseville sitting at the hub of his bayside township.