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Discover the San Diego restaurant pick of the week: Bleu Boheme in Kensington.

The hubbub of the bustling Kensington neighborhood disappeared behind me as I slipped into the quiet countryside calm of Bleu Boheme, French cuisine entrepreneur Philip Beltran's latest San Diego restaurant venture under Beltran Restaurant Concepts.

Bleu Boheme takes authentic poor French farmer meals and transforms the simple ingredients into extraordinary gourmet cuisine. Not surprisingly, the atmosphere reflects the return to an honest past. Minimalist décor dominates with unadorned stonewalls, plain wooden chairs, and benches neatly lined up throughout the room. However, the close proximity between each table, as well as a homey cabinet in the corner revealing an ever so slightly cluttered display of plates and water pitchers, soften any sternness the restaurant might have initially impressed.

A friendly hostess showed me to my seat and lighted the slender candle on the table as she informed me of the day's specials. The menu is divided into La Tradition, dishes that are available year-round, and La Saison, the seasonal specials. The La Saison menu is currently in spring and summer mode and offers a variety of salads, such as the Coeur de Romaine, tossed with homemade Caesar and sweet potato chips.

Discover the entrée of the week from Bleu Boheme: salmon cooked over a bed of ratatouille, served in a paper wrap.

The lowly ratatouille, a provincial technique of simmering plain vegetables, has achieved new meaning at Bleu Boheme. The resulting amalgam of eggplants, tomatoes, bell peppers, in addition to a host of mysterious vegetables I could not identify, was the perfect companion to the fresh, tender salmon.

A light dessert of warm, flourless chocolate cake accompanied by a generous handful of fresh raspberries and tangy sherbet ended the delightful meal without leaving me feeling too sluggish.

The pastoral serenity of Bleu Boheme is a welcome break from typically stiff French restaurants in San Diego, and the traditional fare has succeeded in capturing the rare taste of countryside warmth.