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It was all very simple: a white porcelain platter displaying a mélange of melon balls - cantaloupe and honeydew - interspersed with paper-thin shavings of Italian prosciutto, chunks of feta, torn leaves of basil and mint, and wisps of delicate micro-greens, doused delicately with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Keeping it simple is as much his personal stock in trade as it has been the restaurant's unofficial credo since 2003: simple food, prepared extraordinarily.

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In the quiet hours before the din of chatty patrons might drown out her quiet voice, Pearl Cash perches high on a barstool to talk food and extoll the virtues of careful hiring in a business that is as much about consistency and talent, as it is about the oft-tedious blend of identity and creativity.

Next to her was the man she affectionately calls "Ron" - one of two kitchen leaders who breathe life into a well-conceived menu in this restaurant on Front Street.

"Ron" is really Ryan Smith - who has been quietly working his way toward the helm at this country French café since 2005.

"I think at one time we had something like five guys named Ryan working here," Cash says, deferring to the young chef for confirmation.

"We all had to come up with a new name," says Smith. In his case, thinking of one was as simple as remembering the heavy drawl of a Southern chef in a Eugene, Ore., kitchen years earlier.

"He tried to say ‘Ryan', but it just came out sounding like ‘Ron' so that's what I'm known as here," he says.

Smith had been cooking for almost a full year at the restaurant before Cash returned to the kitchen following recovery from a bout with breast cancer. Even then, their schedules rarely crossed paths.

These days, Smith and Cash rub elbows much more with her back at the helm - much like she was in the 1970s with Doria's, in the 1980s with Chanterelle and in the 1990s with Alley Cat.

But after six years, Smith runs this kitchen four nights a week in a kind of system Cash still likes to call a "committee."

Handing over reins to an executive chef isn't something Cash is prepared to do yet - mostly because she's still executing her own vision in the kitchen a few nights a week. But with up-and-coming chefs like Smith - and Walker Hunter - she says she gets to stay current with culinary trends, while allowing the excitement of new cuisine to seep into her classic repertoire.

Smith, who started cooking in Oregon kitchens after graduating from culinary school in Eugene in 1998, is now instrumental in creating the nightly specials featured at Pearl Café. In addition to the menu book kept at the restaurant, Smith keeps a similar book at home.

"I will create a recipe and when it works, I'll jot it down in my own book for the future," he says.

That future may include a restaurant of his own one day - probably a gastropub in the Pacific Northwest where many of his early co-workers, like Benjamin Dyer (Sympatica and Laurelhurst Market) and John Gorham (Toro Bravo and Tasty n Sons), have forged a name for themselves in the enlivened culinary scene of Portland, Ore.

Last fall, Smith's duck breast pastrami with grilled Flathead peaches and pistou - Provencal's answer to Italian pesto - was a menu hit. As was this spring's duo of molasses-and-beer brined pork belly and grilled pork loin with pea shoots.

"Ron has been instrumental in bringing pork back into my life," calls Cash from across the dining room floor. "I wasn't using it because the last time I had I was disillusioned with its quality."

Favoring grass-fed beef, salmon, rabbit and other proteins typically found in classic country French fare, Cash says it wasn't until Smith arrived and convinced her to bring it back to menus, that she wanted anything to do with it.

"Our family grew pork - we were the original locavores - but I couldn't find anything as succulent," she says. The restaurant now sources both local and Berkshire pork for specials and occasional seasonal features. Cash even recently put veal back on the menu after a long hiatus.

Cash admits she doesn't change her menu as often as other restaurants - mostly because a lot of her customers "like her groove," she says. But with the imagination of Smith and others, she's been able to capture an even broader customer base.

Smith, Hunter and other chefs are eager to try their hand at preserving and curing - another part of a trend where local produce is reimagined into winter jams, hashes and other components that enliven plates for patrons when the snow flies.

Cash is slowly coming around, she says, buts prefers to err on the side of conservative when considering the potential perils of preserving.

***

On trips to Montana to visit their son and daughter, Smith's parents invariably sample their son's kitchen wizardry.

"Both my parents are teachers and I clearly wasn't into academia as a kid, so I think they're relieved that I found my niche," Smith says.

Once a artful plate of melon and prosciutto, a now demolished plate is replaced by a bright pink pudding of strawberry compote-soaked brioche, topped with fresh flowers and whipped cream, rising like an island in a sea of strawberry jus.

So simple. So elegant. So Smith.

Lori Grannis can be reached at 360-8788 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .