San Diego’s ongoing culinary renaissance has less to do with the proliferation of posh new restaurants appearing everywhere than it does with the growing number of young seasoned chefs landing in some of their kitchens. At Azul La Jolla, for example, executive chef Orion Balliet freshens up the table with haute cuisine that is both progressive and ideologically classic, thus nudging the restaurant into a league of stellar seaside dining destinations.

In my last visit a few years ago, when the kitchen was making way for Balliet’s arrival from Villagio Inn & Spa in Napa Valley, the menu waded through its experimental youth with pleasing wood-fired preparations of meat and seafood dressed in gourmet sauces that displayed ambition over total accuracy.

Balliet has tweaked the picture by marrying his dishes to flavorful oils, infused butters, savory reductions, and French and Thai sauces. He’s also added to the menu a section featuring “natural spa cuisine,” which gives hypoallergenic diners a few entrée choices that are free of wheat, dairy and refined sugar. In addition, those dishes are cooked at 245 degrees or less to prevent carcinogens from forming. Not surprising, Balliet received mentoring by California cuisine pioneer Jeremiah Tower while climbing his way to the dean’s list at California Culinary Academy in San Francisco

But with the massive wood-fire oven still in place, it’s difficult to resist the majority of appetizers and entrées that are put through the intense high heat. The perfectly grilled Acapulco Bacon-Wrapped Prawn and Scallop Bundle, for instance, is cooked quickly and paired with a tantalizing smoked ranchero sauce doctored up with Tunisian spices and roasted peppers. It’s one of those “Oh my God” appetizers that made for a sensational preamble to our meal.

We also thoroughly enjoyed the Spanish Tapas Sampler, which featured bread rounds and four homemade Mediterranean-inspired spreads (black olive nicoise, hummus, pepper and pesto). The crowning garnish was a head of roasted garlic, with sweet, soft cloves that we scooped out with lightening speed.

Our salads were anything but boring. What looked like a half moon of white plasterboard sitting atop my companion’s spinach salad was actually ricotta cheese dried just enough to impart a firm and unique consistency. The sherry-shallot vinaigrette added a sparkling flavor. My plate consisted of mixed lettuces, walnuts, ultra-creamy Gorgonzola and a Bartlett pear sliced into precise fans.

Balliet’s wizardry for presentation and his use of high-quality ingredients is blatantly apparent in his latest addition to the entrée menu: a shelled Maine lobster strewn over risotto with white asparagus protruding from the empty torso shell. For starters, it’s the first lobster I’ve had all year that was sweet and tender. The asparagus was delicately cooked. And the creamy risotto, which was surrounded by a moat of electric-green basil oil, contained bursts of Meyer lemon, a hybrid citrus sporting mandarin undertones that all the top chefs are using. It’s an awesome dish that seafood lovers shouldn’t pass up.

My companion’s choice was Horseradish Crusted Canadian King Salmon, served with rich purple potatoes, haricot vert and candied garlic vinaigrette. Our only caveat centered on the “crust,” which despite its punchy flavor from fresh horseradish was too thick and pasty for our liking. Yet the medium-rare fish buried beneath struck that perfect balance between moist and flaky – tricky business when “the catch” is this big and plump.

Balliet fiddles with the menu daily in an effort to keep seasonal ingredients on every plate. More dramatic changes are made quarterly. For now, you’ll find items such as the restaurant’s signature Lobster Pot Pie, Soy-Charred Rare Yellow Fin Ahi, Muscovy Duckling with medjool date pancakes and a tempting Candy Stripe Lasagna layered with braised beef, fresh ricotta and natural jus.

A moderately priced wine list and full array of cocktails make Azul a comfy place to hang out afterwards. Though views of the ocean disappear at nightfall, the settling atmosphere is rustic-posh with a curved stone wall, glowing fireplace, dark-wood pillars and warm lighting. A dark, handsome bar lounge near the entrance lends itself for more intimate gatherings. Also, a good-sized army of wait staff blanket the dining room (at least on weekends), and the waiter we had exhibited the kind of confidence and professionalism one should expect when supping in pricey, fine-dining establishments such as this.

Desserts are crafted in-house by pastry chef Yvonne Marquez, whose talents we ingested with a tad of guilt from a sampler platter featuring things like a chocolate-hazelnut “bombe,” apple-ginger bread pudding, caramel turtle tart and a memorable pumpkin-bourbon cheesecake that could potentially vanish from the list by early January. But these days, what the kitchen drops from its menu merely signals the arrival of newfangled dishes that remain top-notch in taste and appearance.