The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page N6

SUNDAY GOURMET has made changes for the better By Elizabeth Large SUN RESTAURANT CRITIC A restaurant luck can be streaky. You go for weeks eating uneven or downright mediocre meals and then jackpot! Two little gems in a row. what makes the job worthwhile. Last week it was Joy America Cafe. This week, in roughly the same neighborhood, Ten-O-Six, another restaurant that had fallen off my radar until a reader alerted me to the excellent food coming out of Tom kitchen.

I should say reminded me, because when I was last there six years ago it was good. Now better. Chungsakoon, who runs his bistro with his wife and sous chef Penny and son Richard, has refined his menu and his technique. He has wisely come to the conclusion that more elaborate is not necessarily better, but he hold back when a dish needs one of his silky beurre blancs or some pretty garnish. He adds elements from his classical French training to his native Thai dishes, and accents his European dishes with Asian flavors.

There is much more Thai cuisine on the menu than I remember, and less fusion food. But one thing changed: Ten-O-Six is a bargain no matter how you look at it, with most entrees priced comfortably under $20. You go for the food, not the ambience. At the entrance of the bistro is a tiny open kitchen. In back of it is the downstairs dining, which is small, seating only 28.

(Upstairs is a dining room to handle overflow.) This time of year a happy alternative, a pretty outdoor seating area in front of the restaurant. Reservations are a must. There are six more months of eating out to go, but still like to nominate Tempura Soft Shell as my Appetizer of the Year. A small, plump crab is cut into quarters, dipped in a light tempura batter, and fried to a del- icate gold. The pieces are arranged artistically on a bit of sauteed spinach for color, then drizzled with a yellow curry sauce that has distinct fire but the velvet texture of a fine French sauce.

Strategically placed macadamia nuts add visual interest. If you like your food to deliver searing heat, try the Thai clams for a first course. They are shucked to order, sauteed and placed back on the half shell. Their minced topping delivers complex notes of flavor fresh basil, tamarind, garlic. The fiery jolt catches you unawares.

On a hot summer evening, you may prefer watermelon gazpacho, a deliciously fragile soup that combines a fruity sweetness with the traditional icy tomato soup with finely diced raw vegetables. If all this sounds a little too imaginative for you, Ten-O-Six has more usual appetizers as well, including as good a version of chicken satay in peanut sauce as tasted. The menu could be more seasonal (the current menu offers some pretty wintry dishes, like rack of boar, braised short ribs, and pork tenderloin), but a large braised lamb shank had such an elegant little zinfandel sauce and was so tender and aromatic with fresh herbs, we complain. The meat itself, though, thrill me. Cloudlike mashed potatoes made us wonder what all the fuss was about seasonal foods.

The special of the day was indeed something special. It played a fat piece of albacore, perfectly cooked, and lump crab against a lovely saffron beurre blanc. The seafood lay languidly on a bed of rice with fat asparagus spears at its side. Lump crabmeat and almost nothing else forms crab cakes. There is a whisper of binding and a suggestion of seasonings.

Who knew that a crab cake would benefit so much from a fine bearnaise sauce? The one enormous cake rested on a risotto cake with more of that fine asparagus. Pink slices of plump duck breast can be had as a European dish with orange and coriander, or as Chu-Chee Duck cooked in coconut milk with citrusy accents and plenty of heat. Just-tender broccoli florets were as carefully cooked as the asparagus that came with our other entrees; the starch of choice was jasmine rice. Be aware that Ten-O-Six has a beer and wine license, but serve hard liquor. If I could do one thing to improve the restaurant, I would do something about the bread.

The square pieces tasted like pieces of day- old baguette that had been sprinkled with cardamom and dill and toasted. On the other hand, what do you serve when half the table is eating Thai and the other half French food? No such ambiguity seems to trouble the kitchen when it comes to dessert, which are European through and through. Well, there is a key lime pie, but you know what I mean they run to chocolate mousse cakes and creme brulee. Decorated with strawberries, blackberries and swirls of creme anglaise and raspberry sauce, they are delicious. A busy night might overwhelm Ten- tiny kitchen, but almost the only negative thing I can think to say about this fine little Thai and fusion bistro.

Modern city dwelling with a harbor view Food: Service: Atmosphere: Where: 1006 Light Federal Hill Hours: Open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday Prices: Appetizers, Entrees: Call: 410-528-2146 Outstanding: Good: Fair or uneven: Poor: Ten-O-Six roof of a warehouse, and featured tiny rooms, ceilings that as high as the Bohls would have liked, and small windows that take advantage of the spectacular view. On the plus side, there were two working fireplaces, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. Any renovation would have to work with permanent architectural features, like the awkward column in front of the main entrance. task is to create a composition in which the flaw becomes a desirable says Chip. than fight with it, accentuate He built, for instance, a clever little table and storage space off the column near the front door.

The L-shape theme used through the whole apartment (like the asymmetrical of the mantels and the L- shaped cutout between kitchen and master bedroom) was suggested by permanent beams and columns in the living room. The renovation took almost a year, as Chip tore out walls, completely redid the kitchen and two-and-a-half baths, built in storage spaces, and created large windows to open up the apartment and let in more light. The result was so successful it became the cover story for the March issue of Metropolitan Home (Barbara is a city editor for the magazine, a job she got after Met Home featured their farmhouse in 1996.) The main floor of their Federal Hill home now has an open plan with a living room, dining room and kitchen that flow into each other. At the end of the long hall lies the master bedroom. Framed by its open door, like a carefully composed work of art, sits an early 19th-century Baltimore painted chair with a painting of a woman above it.

almost impossible for us not to collect says Chip with a laugh. The apartment is filled with the finds, ranging from antiques to the Italian bent-plywood dining- room chairs. Walls and shelves showcase other collections dear to their hearts, like the drawings and paintings of nudes throughout their home. From the narrow weathered- wood terrace that runs the length of the two sides, the Bohls have a magnificent view of Federal Hill Park, the harbor, and much of the city. Barbara is the gardener, and her inspiration, she says, was Parisian rooftop gardens (although a decided Asian feel to the arrangement).

The terrace has different levels where the Bohls can entertain, grill and eat al fresco; the only downside is that their deck is a favored haunt of pigeons. It overlooks a series of decks and rooftop gardens; but none in sight rivals theirs, with its grasses and square terra-cotta flower pots. The apartment is larger than it seems at first, taking up three floors. Downstairs is the mezzanine, with a laundry and a room for when the two grandchildren visit. The bottom floor has two guest bedrooms and its own entrance off a third- floor corridor.

Chip opened the kitchen with a large bow window, which cre- ates a wavelike effect and balances the angularity of the ultramodern appliances and cabinetry and the rectangular kitchen table he made from a slab of yellow Siena marble bought in Tuscany, where Chip was studying stone carving. Most of the furniture in the main living areas is a mix of retro modern and contemporary; but in the bedroom are beloved antiques, like the painted chair and a 125- year-old maple bed from the farmhouse. A subtle watery theme runs through the interior design. While much of the apartment is painted white, a pale sea foam and serene aqua have been used here and there for walls, the mid- century modern furniture and the contemporary accessories. The polished floor, epoxy paint over concrete, looks like a deep blue lake.

Area rugs float and furnishings are reflected in its shiny surface. Only one work of art in the dining room features fish, but ruffled round accent pillows suggest spiny sea urchins. It all seems entirely appropriate for an apartment so near the Inner Harbor. What Chip Bohl says of the homes he builds or renovates for clients can be said of his own home. nature of what we do is always an he explains.

work pretty hard to design a place that fits where it Return to Ten-O-Six puts bistro back on the radar ELIZABETH MALBY SUN STAFF PHOTO Penny Chungsakoon, sous chef and wife of Tom Chungsakoon, shows off a whole-fish dish with Thai flavors. GENE SWEENEY JR. SUN STAFF PHOTOS Penthouse, from Page 1 Tips from the experts Not everyone can afford a Federal Hill penthouse (as well as a Delaware beach house and another home in Los Angeles). But you can have something tasteful and lovely without spending a lot of money, say the Bohls. Here are some suggestions: Develop your tastes through books and shelter magazines.

In the 1960s, says Chip, magazines like House Beautiful were all about how to make your home as good as everybody Now they help create a living space unique to you. The Bohls say the basis of their collections is effort, not money. They scour flea markets, vintage stores, and secondhand shops. Find a balance between unifying themes (mid- century modern, for instance) and eclecticism (vintage accessories). Work with architectural features that be changed; fight them.

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