Chef Danny Salgado recalls cutting veal cheeks in the kitchen of Galileo 101 when the “great flood” occurred. A water pipe had burst directly over the two-level restaurant, sending 200,000 gallons of water into the kitchen and dining room. With so much destroyed, the owners spent the next six weeks installing new carpet, chairs, banquettes and kitchen equipment.

Upon reopening, the restaurant’s chic second-floor nightclub faded into history. That space is now used for banquets and private affairs while the first floor shows off a luxurious bar lounge encased in tall windows in the front and a sleek dining room with creamy white banquettes and an open kitchen toward the back. Vivid pop-style art commemorating 17th century astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei adds whimsy and color to an otherwise plain but lucid scheme.

Galileo sits off the beaten track at the base of Harbor Towers – those glassy brown twin high-rises looming over Harbor Drive near the Convention Center. Before the flood, the menu tilted toward contemporary Italian, and to my recollection, it didn’t earn many raves. In its rebirth, however, Salgado unleashes his wizardry for rolling out deeply flavored dishes steeped in traditional European styles but combed over with the modern tenets used for building hip California cuisine.

“Liquids” is the menu’s first category. A poke at the disastrous deluge perhaps? If so, there’s nothing menacing about the two soups we tried from here. My vegetarian companion chose the Insane Mushroom, a stupendous concoction made with six types of fungi that are fire roasted for three hours in a pizza oven and then blended down with butter, herbs, garlic, mushrooms and root veggies, which are previously sautéed in more butter. Also delightful was the bright-red Bacon Lettuce and Tomato soup that popped of chilled fresh tomatoes. Though I couldn’t detect lettuce in this smoothly textured soup, the bacon appears in a plop of airy foam floating at the top and packs a nice intense flavor.

The chef’s use of heirloom tomatoes reappeared in my companion’s salad course, which featured a sparse arrangement of green and red tomato slices (some sweet and others not) speckled with micro basil and balsamic reduction. On the side was a shot of “bloody Mary” that resembled my BLT soup except that it was spicier.

My Untraditional Caesar salad was dramatically livelier. Fresh romaine hearts set the stage for a pinkish and very spicy chipotle dressing that married well with shavings of aged Jack cheese and grilled croutons. It indeed broke all norms, and I loved it.

In our ensuing courses, my companion tested the kitchen by requesting vegetarian dishes, which were nonexistent on the menu at that point. For an appetizer, the chef sent out all 10 amino acids in the form of quinoa, which was perked up with apples and sage. Not bad, although I took a fonder liking to my big and fleshy diver scallops from Maine dressed in an intricate veal reduction and perched against a plop of tender veal pieces (osso bucco). The dish is a modern-day version of surf-and-turf, and I highly recommend it.

A specially made vegetable risotto served as my companion’s main entrée – a tasty dish with good textures that was perfectly salted and cooked just long enough to bring the Arborio rice to the al dente level.

My entrée exposed me to the best flat iron steak I’ve ever eaten, due partly to the fact that it’s made with melt-in-your-mouth Kobe beef. The meat had everything going for it – charred crunchy edges giving way to pink soft flesh in the middle. A meek chipotle-Bernaise sauce added creaminess and tang without detracting from the beef’s supreme essence. Grilled asparagus and a buttery mash of Yukon Gold potatoes augmented the meal.

Chef Salgado, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., either makes everything from scratch (mayonnaise, sauces, baguettes, desserts and even fruity sodas served with foie gras) or shops from top-quality purveyors. “The Sysco Corporation must hate him,” my companion quipped as we encroached on a trio of crème brulee, spiked alternately with vanilla bean, basil and lemon, as well as a petite chocolate cake boasting a sinful liquid center and adorned with pure-tasting strawberry puree.

The wine list covers most bases and led us to a medium-bodied malbec from Argentina and then to a fruit-forward Mount Veeder cabernet from Napa Valley.

If you’ve never visited Galileo 101, or thought it had closed for good, just point your telescope in its direction and behold the bright and sparkly cuisine that awaits

consumption.

Got a food scoop? E-mail it to editor@uptownpub.com.