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The dining room at the newly opened Lodge at Torrey Pines, A.R. Valentien, pays tribute to the early California impressionist painter renowned for his vases and paintings of Southern California flora. Memorabilia and significant works of Valentien are displayed throughout the restaurant and lounge area.

The restaurant also pays homage to Craftsman architecture with its metal-strap post and beam structure, wooden framed windows, handmade stained glass lanterns and reproduction Stickley furniture. The restaurant rests atop a hill overlooking the rolling lawns at the 18th hole of the Torrey Pines Golf Course with a stunning view of the Pacific just beyond.

Amazingly, A.R. Valentien Executive Chef Jeff Jackson, or “J2” as it says on his toque, produces fare far more breathtaking than the view of the golf course, ocean and all the fancy architecture combined. Formerly executive chef at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, Jackson is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a recipient of the prestigious Bocuse d’Or Culinary Gold Cup.

The dinner menu changes as items go in and out of season.

Jackson has written the menu in such fine prose that simply reading it is a culinary adventure that makes selecting just one or two menu destinations very difficult.

We started with the “Tuna Carpaccio, Horseradish and Crispy Capers” ($14). Not your everyday wafer-thin carpaccio, this locally caught ahi-grade tuna is darn near a quarter of an inch thick and blankets a viscous horseradish crème fraîche. It is topped with grated fresh horseradish root and deep-fried capers and parsley. The deep frying really brings out the briney nature of the capers and adds an element of texture as well.

Next was the “Shaved Fennel, Watercress, Orange and Roquefort Salad” ($9). This is a wonderful combination of flavors scantily clad in a light champagne vinaigrette.

On each visit to A.R. Valentien I had different dinner companions, but the same two entrées won the popular vote each time: the “Horseradish Crusted Salmon” ($23) and the “Roasted Chicken with Melted Foie Gras” ($22).

The king salmon is line-caught from Northern California, rolled and tied “tournedo style,” then dressed up in a horseradish jacket and baked perfectly to a medium-rare. It is served over a crème fraîche sauce accompanied by fresh green beans.

Always a sucker for foie gras, once I read the description of the “Roasted Chicken” dish, my eyes wandered no longer. It is an outstanding dish comprised of a juicy roasted half chicken, which is draped with very thin slices of foie gras immediately upon exiting the oven. The residual heat from the chicken is enough to cook or melt the foie gras, which is then finished off with morel mushrooms, braised lettuce and served with a sweet-as-sugar whole white carrot.

The desserts, too — such as a fabulous lip-smacking lemon tart and a do-save-room-for “Lavender Honey Gelato” — are a work of art. Be sure and dip down to the bottom of the dish where you will find a “pot o’ gold” (or in this case, lavender) honey. It is garnished with a chard of beautiful transparent pistachio brittle reminiscent of a stained glass window.

The lunch menu offers such magical starters as “Brie Soup” ($6.50), “Roasted Beet, Orange and Avocado Salad” ($6.50), “Prosciutto and Peppered Pear Salad” ($8.50) and “Warm Fingerling Potato and Spring Greens with Duck Breast” ($7.50), which you will want to follow with entrées like the “Roasted Chicken Thigh and Root Vegetables with Mole Poblano” ($13.50) and the “Soft Polenta, Cavolo Nero and Spicy Shrimp” ($15).