750 ml

Owner Steven Arroyo has a knack for developing offbeat locations into wildly successful restaurants. He's behind Cobras & Matadors, the Mexican boite Malo, and he plans to expand into the farther reaches of downtown L.A. with Church & State across the street from Royal Claytons. And as of two weeks ago, 750 ml on Mission Street, across from the Metro Gold Line station.

Arroyo always gets the edgy, urban look just right. Here, he's lucked into a vintage corner building with big steel-framed windows and a broad sidewalk in front, where tables will be set out in summer.

Inside is a study in industrial chic, with glossy brown-toned subway tiles on the walls and retro light fixtures with clear bulbs and naked filaments that glow gold. Bentwood bistro chairs are pulled up to a long communal table, and a handful of smaller tables covered in brown paper are tucked into the corners of the room and against the windows. It's comfy and welcoming, with servers who know about food and wine.

The wine list offers 16 wines by the glass and 50 wines less than $50, but just one all-purpose wineglass. The selection, culled from both Old and New Worlds, includes a lovely Gruner Veltliner from Austria, a spicy California Cabernet Franc and a Carignan made from 126-year-old vines.

The menu is short and sweet and slated to change frequently. The chef, Greg Bernhardt, has worked at Vida, Le Dome and Grace. Cobras & Matadors already does the tapas thing, so 750 ml is going for the more conventional appetizer/ main course format. The style is mostly French, with accents from elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

To start, consider the baby artichoke salad with rocket, thin slices of bresaola (air-dried beef) and a Southern Hemisphere version of Reggiano cheese. Duck confit is delicious and, oddly enough, served as a very hearty first course. But I don't quite get the frisee salad that accompanies it: A sharp sweet dressing means the salad isn't as wine-friendly as it could be. Fistfuls of mache with Bosc pear and a fig vinaigrette should do nicely, though.