By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Critic

NARRAGANSETT -- It starts with the garage doors. I assumed that the space was a converted fire station, and was disappointed when I found out it isn't.

The owner of 1200 Ocean Grill, Stephan Siravo, had the doors installed when he took over the space for this restaurant in 1998.

Originally, it had been a clam shack -- a really big clam shack, evidently. The doors open in the summer to a spacious patio ensconced with well-trimmed trees and an herb garden.

It felt a little like eating in the cafeteria at Spacely Sprockets -- you know, where George Jetson worked? Straight lines, sharp angles and that color of green on the walls that's usually reserved for children's cake icing. Sleek track lighting and high ceilings highlight the sparseness. The decor is a minimalist's dream.

I get it. I even like it.

I like the food even better.

It makes as bold a statement as the decor, and in a more effortless way. I was expecting a menu of mostly seafood items, in large part because of the restaurant's name and location -- it's just down the road from Scarborough State Beach.

And there are several seafood items -- sole, flounder, littlenecks, calamari. But things from 1200 Ocean's kitchen are in an eclectic class all their own, drawing style and ingredients from everything from regional American cuisine to Italian.

Siravo is at the helm in the kitchen, assisted by Sean Tanner.

Sautéed escarole makes a grand showing in what could be deemed a rustic Italian classic -- large, wilted leaves of the mildly astringent green are the perfect match for the homey flavor of cannelini beans seasoned with rosemary and bits of pancetta. Large toastpoints are perfect for sopping the savory broth at the bottom of the bowl.

A French onion soup started things off, though. Easily any kitchen's benchmark for ability, 1200 Ocean's was a deeply layered, sweet broth teeming with fat-cut slices of onions and laced with herbs, particularly rosemary. It's served with hearty slices of an Italian loaf topped with bubbling Swiss cheese.

There are several items on the menu that seem to have made a permanent place for themselves -- the aforementioned escarole and another appetizer of spicy pan-fried crab cakes have been around for quite some time.

There's usually two good reasons for this: They are exceptionally good and regular customers like them. At 1200 Ocean, I imagine the reason is both.

The crab cakes are indeed spicy, but with a slow kick. In other words, you really won't know how spicy they are until it's too late.

That's why pairing them with a mild orange-and-chipotle-laced mayonnaise is a stroke of flavorful brilliance: The mayo not only curbs the heat, it adds a layer of citrus-smoked flavor as well.

I was happy to find that in addition to being a Sunday blue plate special, I could order flounder as an entrée, too.

A fish that has been sorely overlooked by the restaurant industry in recent years, it's usually mislabeled as sole on most menus (sole is a variety of flounder). And for no good reason: after all, it has a delicate flavor, with lots of flaky flesh, marrying well with myriad other flavors.

What seduced me wasn't the fish as much as the trappings -- a cornmeal crust mixed with honey, pan fried, then drizzled with a velvety, lemon-laced beurre blanc (a butter sauce).

A tuna filet was a little too pink in spots, but daintily flavored with a pungent ginger-and-molasses marinade, served with a mound of wasabi-laced mashed potatoes whose flavor packed a powerful, eye-watering punch.

While remaining courteous and polite throughout the meal, by dessert our waitress appeared to tire of us. I began to feel as if she thought of us as the guests who wouldn't leave.

Still, she tried to seem cheerful, even though it was an obvious blow to her schedule that in addition to everything else we had already eaten, we ordered a house-made blondie and coconut sorbet for dessert.

The sorbet came cleverly presented in a coconut shell -- sweet and refreshing, but lacking any real coconut flavor. It was much better when mixed with the rich ice cream and bites of the blondie, which was actually a two-inch-thick, buttery, chewy chocolate chip cookie in disguise.