New North Park Café One Three has seen something like a gold rush since opening. Perhaps it’s due to having been named after co-owner Jason Dean’s lucky number, 13. Dean spelled the figure out to avoid negative connotations, but maybe there’s truth in superstition because Café One Three is filling the house – even on weekdays.

My dining companion and I arrived midweek to the sunny café (formerly Indulgence Bakery) a hair before the dinner hour. The menu revealed unexpected surprises – Savory Tart Du Jour, artisan cheeses, vertical-standing salads, and fish and meat entrées stamped with the kind of gourmet worldliness that you’d expect from a fine restaurant. Reasonable prices, a decent wine list and a quaint, unpretentious atmosphere are the café’s added bonuses.

The day’s Savory Tart packed a flavor punch of Brie, Gruyere, chevre and bleu cheeses. Similar to quiche, but much better, it was a fine introduction to a lively rotation of tart recipes that change every few days. Another starter combines excellent house-made humus with crisp and spunky-flavored Moroccan wings. And the appetizer sampler inclu-des potato pancakes revealing semi-firm, julienne-cut spuds in the center and a pleasing caper sauce on top, plus humus and tender chicken satay kissed gently with curry powder.

Dean and his chef, John Kennedy, have carefully mastered the art of constructing dishes that keep one leg in the comfort zone and another in semi-edgy waters. Traditional in nearly every respect was the Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup, and we loved the occasional burst of heat from large crushed and dried pasilla peppers floating about.

More novel, however, were two tower-shaped salads. My companion’s red and yellow beet salad was interspersed with chunky granules of mildly salty pepato cheese, which contrasted nicely with the super-sweet beets. My salad was significantly taller – a springy, bruschetta-gone-wild concoction propped up with soft, velvety mozzarella, anemic tomatoes (soon to make their final exit from most kitchens as summer approaches) and cubed Tuscan bread, which we felt could have been reduced by half in the composition.

Meatloaf lovers will embrace the café’s recipe made with ground pork, veal and turkey. You’re given a decent-size slab sporting an unruffled texture that’s moisturized by a thin, homey jus flavored with onions and celery. Sorry, mom, but this version tops your basic ground-beef loaf by a mile. Adding to the splendor were garlic mashed potatoes (thankfully, more buttery than garlicky) and a stuffed tomato that earned its merits entirely from the earthy duxelle mushroom filling.

My companion’s entrée, Grilled Bone-In Pork Loin, was cooked to perfection and supported by two outstanding accompaniments – an olive bread pudding punctuated by sage, fennel, carrots and onions, and the only Brussels sprouts I’ve ever been served in a restaurant that I liked. They’re halved and simply sautéed in a seasoned iron skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Chef Kennedy presents an all-around impressive repertoire of good eats, starting with things like homemade Yankee sage sausage and whole-wheat pancakes served with fresh blueberry syrup for breakfast to assorted panninis and open-face grilled eggplant sandwiches for lunch. He hails from the Hyatt hotel chain and has worked alongside such notable chefs as Charlie Trotter of Chicago and Thomas Keller of Napa Valley. Fortunately for San Diego, we’re seeing more chefs of his pedicure working the kitchens in these types of neighborhood eateries lately – a trend that will continue.

The café also employs expert pastry chefs, whose creations are displayed in a small bakery case that sits within tempting eyeshot from most tables. My companion put his favorite dessert to the test here – a toothsome Pecan Pie that duly met his standards with whole pecans embedded into the traditional buttery, caramelized filling. Coffee-spiked cheesecake set with sour cream topping was also heavenly. And I’d venture to guess the same for the giant chocolate cake that kept winking at us throughout our meal.

Café One Three is off to a good start. By the time we made our exit, the dining room was full to capacity with spillover onto the patio – proof that good food and service combined with affordable prices can beat superstition.