Loop 22 is tasty takeoff on tradition

• Rating%3A 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
• Address%3A 2222 Dundee Road Telephone%3A %28502%29 882-3279 Web%3A looptwentytwo.com Cuisine%3A New American.
• Alcohol%3A Full bar. Vegetarian%3A Yes. Price range%3A Moderate. Reservations%3A Yes. Credit cards%3A AE%2C V%2C MC%2C D Children%27s menu%3A No.

Loop 22, located in the Douglass Loop, where trolley cars once turned around to make the trek back downtown, serves up a joy ride of a dinner. Chef and co-owner Eric Morris' menu is genteelly bold, with twisted tradition and exciting individuality.

There must have been a calculated approach to designing the dining rooms with an eye toward non-design. I got used to it and even began to like it. The lack of sound abatement I found irritating. Loud is a trend in some new restaurants. The idea must be to make guests feel that a restaurant is what was formerly known as cool, but is now called hot. John, my dining partner for the evening, and I have long since stopped worrying about being either, but we would like to be able to hear each other talk.

We set dinner in motion with the Loop 22 oysters Rockefeller. Poach them, bake them, serve them raw. To my mind and palate, oysters are one of the sea's best offerings and one of the world's best foods. I made a giddy fool of myself over Morris' oysters Rockefeller ($12), fried oysters placed on stuffed portobello mushrooms and artichoke Parmesan cream.

Reuben hush puppies ($8) — corned beef, Swiss cheese and Six Mile Island dressing — sort of Reuben in a ball, teased with promise on the menu but didn't score well on the plate, no matter how much we tried to find something we liked about them. Heavy and savorless, they were a kill-joy to all things Reuben.

I do forgive, most times, and forget, sometimes. I had no choice but to do both for the hush puppies when they were 10 times redeemed by the warm Brussels sprout salad ($8.) Just crunchy-enough baby Brussels sprouts, with sesame goat cheese, were pithy minikins of flavor tinged with citrus and almond. The salad was the essence of the small talk of simple ingredients making a big, boastful statement.

Because it has so often been prepared so poorly, beef Stroganoff developed a bad reputation. Supposedly helpful hints for busy cooks, such as using onion soup mix in a recipe, didn't help. Morris must have wanted to bring the best of the classic Russian dish to middle America, but using his own interpretation. He jettisoned the beef in favor of braised lamb. His lamb Stroganoff ($16) is a superlatively rich melange of meat, oyster mushrooms and egg noodles.

I was looking forward to the spicy Creole broth in crawfish Monica ($16). The dish was full of chorizo and egg noodles, and had a spicy sauce red chile lovers would applaud, but there was no broth.

When it comes to fancy foods, tacos generally don't make the grade. Loop 22 dresses up tacos for a special night out. Crispy lobster tacos ($12) wrap lobster, cabbage, pico de gallo and chipotle cream in soft corn tortillas. Incredibly tasty, the tacos are also beautifully presented.

Some of the entrees John and I considered before we singled out the Stroganoff and crawfish Monica were bourbon-soy-glazed grilled salmon ($18), with Southern succotash and collard greens; a 14-ounce bone-in grilled pork chop ($21) with vegetable risotto, asparagus and hot pepper jam; and The Heartbreaker ($22), a bacon-wrapped chicken breast stuffed with Hammerheads (from the Germantown restaurant of the same name) smoked pork, brie and fig glaze.

Chicken shows up on the menu a few times: chicken and fried dumplings ($14); two-piece fried chicken dinner ($14); rotisserie chicken (half, $12; whole, $20); and in two sandwiches.

I'm ready to check out a couple of other sandwiches, such as the prime Angus burger ($12), primarily for its bacon apple jam, and the EBLT ($10), fried green tomato, egg, bacon and greens.

I haven't kept track of how many times I have reviewed bread pudding. I write about it because I like it and, from what I hear, I'm part of a big crowd. Loop 22's chocolate bread pudding ($6), is going to the top of the stack of my pudding reviews. If it could be awarded its own stars, I would happily give it four.

My reviews occasionally mention service if it is remarkably good or particularly bad. Our experience at Loop 22 definitely was influenced by our server, Carla. She was exuberant, funny and delightful. Need I go on? Yes, to be fair I must. She was the ultimate professional. She was everything we could want in a server. Eric Morris has a lot going for him and he doesn't need to depend on luck to remain successful, but the day he found Carla was his lucky day.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

Address: 2222 Dundee Road Telephone: (502) 882-3279 Web: looptwentytwo.com Cuisine: New American.

Alcohol: Full bar. Vegetarian: Yes. Price range: Moderate. Reservations: Yes. Credit cards: AE, V, MC, D Children's menu: No.

You can email freelance restaurant critic Nancy Miller at millermadison@aol.com. Follow @WhatNancyThinks on Twitter.