“Have you been to Blue Coral before?” our waiter asked as we settled in to a roomy, half-moon-shaped booth illuminated dimly by a pendulous light encased in cobalt-blue glass.

“No,” we answered, which sparked a long but informative preamble about the restaurant’s background and its enticing menu of fish and vodkas.

Blue Coral sits among a small posse of upscale restaurants that form The Aventine Center in La Jolla. The location is the second to open – the first debuted in Newport Beach last August.

This new 7,800-square-foot seafood house, accented by a large, open kitchen and a dazzling wall of 60 vodkas from around the world, was conceived by the creators of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, situated coincidentally next door.

A battery of interior designers transformed the faux-Italian villa theme of the former Sophia’s into a fashionable, open dining room using brushed stainless steel, colorful mosaic tiles, glass sculptures and artsy light fixtures. The atmosphere is versatile enough to welcome both casual and well-dressed diners – although if you don finer threads, waiters will drape a black cloth napkin on your lap if you’re wearing black, or a white one if you arrive in lighter colors – a fastidious service that keeps one’s thighs free of detectable lint.

With the arrival of buttermilk drop biscuits at the table, our waiter led us through a detailed list of Blue Coral’s extensive vodka menu, which includes vodkas infused for five days with lemon grass, berries or mango. The inventory also includes a plethora of remarkably smooth premium labels blended with various fruits and botanicals that will leave you shouting “I can’t believe this is vodka!” after a few sips. Naturally, with such a substantial booze base, there are myriad cocktail selections. My favorite is the Lemongrass Lemonade, with muddled basil. Even on a cold night, this icy concoction was utterly refreshing and palate cleansing.

Blue Coral’s food menu begins with “chilled” and “hot” appetizer sections. We made some impressive finds before selecting thin, tongue-shaped slices of sushi-grade yellowtail. The fish mingled marvelously with blood orange vinaigrette, a pinch of sea salt and a few minced serrano chilies. My companion, who’s never quite warmed up to raw fish, took unexpected pleasure in the dish.

We also reveled in the Crab Cocktail Trio, three pretty arrangements of the sea delicacy, featuring mild-tasting king crab, big-chunked blue crab (unfortunately overwhelmed by even a light coating of mustard sauce) and the sweetest contender, Dungeness crab, which was firm and fresh.

We ordered a half-dozen farm-raised Fanny Bay oysters, Rockefeller style – baked quickly in their shells with breadcrumbs, spinach and Parmesan cheese. But we didn’t care much for the buried treasures. They were East Coast oysters, and I prefer their Northeast cousins because they’re more briny. These were too slimy and lacked the flavor of natural minerals to counteract their fishiness.

Always a sucker for tableside presentations, we ordered the Lobster Cobb Salad – a mondo medley for two consisting of tail meat from Maine, baby greens, steamed asparagus, egg, tomatoes and bacon tossed under our noses with an excellent tarragon dressing. We followed it with bowls of good lobster bisque finished off with sherry and white clam chowder laced with the comforting flavors of leeks and bacon.

Blue Coral entrees are cleverly categorized by “shells,” “fins” and “land & air,” the latter offering the only non-seafood items in the house – two prime steaks and a free-range chicken breast. We skipped over those and kept our tongues in the sea with one of the best shrimp scampi dishes I’ve stumbled upon in years. The butterflied wild gulf prawns were bathed in a lemon-butter sauce that actually stuck to the crustaceans. It was creamy rather than oily, with a perfect infusion of garlic and basil. The plate came with roasted Roma tomatoes so sweet that we thought at first they were sun dried.

A variety of broths such as vegetable, tomato and herb-butter set the stage for several fish and seafood entrées, such as the Mahi Mahi I ordered. The slab of crisscross grilled fish was drizzled in a light, thin lemony chicken broth that soaked in nicely to both the fish and accompanying cannelloni beans – a well-orchestrated dish stamped with a rural Tuscany flair.

Meals at Blue Coral can be augmented with shareable sides that include seasoned fries, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies or lobster mac-and-cheese, which for the life of me still appears on too many fine dining establishments. We opted for grilled asparagus. Some of the spears were tender, others not. As for the Fuji apple and Danish bleu cheese coleslaw, it was rich and sprightly, and would be perhaps a better choice with red meat.

Though vodka flows heavily at the Blue Coral, the restaurant’s progressive wine list is also filled with prime picks, offering more than 60 selections by the glass (in Schott Zwiesel crystal stemware), plus a reserve list of highly allocated varietals from around the globe. Service leans toward the formal side, and with such an emphasis on fresh seafood, it’s likely that the menu’s fish selections will catch your eye.