Georges California Modern, 1250 Prospect Street, La Jolla

In swanky, shallow La Jolla (pronounced: hoya), a short cab ride north of San Diego, exec chef Trey Foshee is serving up sharp fresh dishes that look tasty without being too dressy.

Formerly the fine dining room at Georges at the Cove, the all-new "upscale contemporary restaurant" is declaring it's intentions with the name: California Modern. Local veggies mostly seem to come from Chino Farms in Rancho Santa Fe, a multigenerational 50-acre family farm. I can't tell you anything about the quality of any meats - since our party of five all agreed the seafood dishes sounded far more exciting.

Cocktails created by the chef start the menu, so I started the meal with one: a sweet Chino Farms Nectarine Bellini made with Drusian Prosecco. Okay, I looked like a big girl, but the taste was worth it.

Grilled Chino Eggplant with a spicy pepper confit, cherry tomato, white bean "hummus" followed. What - you're already starting to notice the reliance on Chino this and that? Well, it seems to be no bad thing. I can't see the point of "baby" aubergine most of the time but in this case it was full of flavour and terrific summer food.

I had Chorizo Crusted White Seabass with roasted peppers, shelling beans, cherry tomatoes, parsley puree for a main course. It looked odd - a huge bass with a few studs of chorizo on top. Big deal - it tasted fabulous.

I also tried a little Lobster Seafood Stew, which was subtle and silky, studded with lentils.

Château d'Yquem is a favorite wine of Hannibal Lecter but that's (ahem) really not why I ordered it. I ordered it because it's also a favourite of Marco Pierre White. Georges sell the 1997 (apparently a great year for most wines) by the ounce for £20, which basically equates to a small, sherry glass sized serving. However given how utterly fascinting this wine was it's well worth the expense. I usually say that I know little about wine. Having drunk this I now know how very little that is.

Service was mostly excellent - there was a long stretch early on when we could really have done with our orders being taken, but after that there was nothing to fault and a lot to praise - especially the advice on which dishes to choose.

We ordered two cheese plates allowing us to try all but one of the cheeses on their list. All were interesting, though the portions of each were barely bite sized.

An excellent Simonnet-Febvre Chablis 2005 was $50 (lists at £8.95 UK) but the food prices were a bargain and current exchange rates. Overall prices were competitive for such high quality food.