We can't take credit for discovering Billy Zoellin, the executive chef at a very appealing midtown place called the Golden Bear.

Sure, we've sized up his cooking and, after several visits to an eatery once considered a dive bar, we've tasted nearly everything on a menu in which the most expensive dish is $11.

But the word is already out on this guy. Local food bloggers have been talking him up. Midtown Monthly magazine recently published an enthusiastic review.

And just a few weeks back, Food Network wrapped up a shoot in Zoellin's tiny kitchen for an episode of Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" that will air sometime in the next 12 months. You know the show: A crew painstakingly gets all the right camera angles, then Fieri pops in and, as if he had a divining rod for good food on the cheap, pretends he stumbled upon this place when he pulled off the freeway to gas up his classic convertible.

Zoellin, who has been at the Golden Bear since March, has been pulling down some serious attention. No word on when he will sit down with Charlie Rose, cook at the James Beard House and start hanging out with Adriana Lima.

You could say Patrick Mulvaney discovered Zoellin a few years back, when Zoellin had enough moxie to talk his way into a job at one of the city's best restaurants, though his résumé might have qualified him for little more than the deep-fryer station at Jack in the Box.

Zoellin is 26, homegrown, earnest, talented, aspiring and not afraid to do his own thing. That alone is worth a round of applause.

Troubled by all the copycat menus in town? Zoellin is pairing sausage with smoky cole slaw and putting it on a pizza with an onion marmalade (with amazing results), making his own thick-cut potato chips (maybe the best I've ever had) and, instead of putting turkey on a club sandwich, which is always pretty darn good unless it's made with pressed meat and Wonder Bread, he's using duck confit. (Talk about kicking it up a notch.)

A prosciutto and peach panini? Never mind the accidental alliteration – it worked in every which way: poignant, piquant, provocative. Zoellin's bahn mi sandwich is a $10 upscale version of the spicy Asian- inspired sub with the refreshing zing of cilantro.

Before we go on about all that's right with the food, let's look at what the Golden Bear is not. It's not a diner or a drive-in, and thanks to a major renovation, it no longer looks like it will fall over if you look at it funny. So it's not fair to call it a dive.

Let's go with "neighborhood joint." For those unfamiliar with midtown, the address may say K Street, but this is a stretch with cars, people, businesses and vibrant life. Think: Not the K Street Mall.

The only remnant of the Golden Bear's ramshackle former self is the seriously tilting front porch, which will never have a problem with standing water.

This is a fun place, but it's not one I'd recommend for a special occasion like an anniversary, a promotion or a mistrial. For hanging out with friends, a casual date, a place to sit at the bar and watch sports over cold beers and deftly engineered drinks, or a destination for a funky but refined food adventure, the Golden Bear may be your kind of place.

After seven years as a popular bar, it's growing up to be a pub with significant gastronomic leanings. Dives don't have the word "heirloom" on the menu; neither do they change the menu with the seasons.

Here's how you might navigate this joint and have a really good food experience.

If you're thinking about going there for dinner, brace yourselves. The laid-back patrons on the porch one night we visited were a reminder that the Golden Bear hasn't entirely shed its dive-bar past. As I first laid eyes on my beautiful gazpacho, for example, I wasn't thrilled to overhear a woman at the next table punctuate her riveting anecdote about love, loss and the meaning of life with, "I puked my guts out."

The demographic tilts strongly toward 20-somethings, but the coolest places in town should make everyone feel at home. A healthy mix of folks brings more energy to a room.

That said, I may be offering up a buzzkill, but isn't now the time to banish smoking from an otherwise appealing patio? Smoking is a choice, but it's also a fashion accessory that stopped being cool around the time Humphrey Bogart stopped making movies and started dying of lung cancer. On a patio where food is served, hovering smoke can overwhelm, say, the enticing aroma of duck confit, warm toast and fresh kettle chips.

When you walk into the Golden Bear, don't pretend you are at Biba or Boulevard Bistro. The whole table- service thing here is loosely defined. They're still ironing out the part about walking over to your table and taking your order. Sometimes it happens, sometimes not so much.

Get a menu at the bar and pick a table, possibly on the front porch, unless you want to watch what's on the flat-screen behind the bar, which may or may not be ESPN or an episode of "Cops."

The folks at the Golden Bear are all very friendly, even if the dude stationed out front one night to check IDs looked like his other job was beating up mean people.

Our server one day was helpful and spoke enthusiastically about the cooking, including the peculiar notion of putting cole slaw on a pizza pie.

That pizza was an inspiration, as are the panini pairing prosciutto with peaches. The salty pork plays off the tangy fruit and melds with the timeless luxury of warm, gooey brie. Throw in some superb bread nicely toasted, a side of house-made potato chips with perfect texture and true potato taste, and you get a sense of a chef who embraces the familiar but insists on going his own way.

On the same visit, we loved the smooth flavors of the gazpacho with housemade mozzarella, though it might have worked better with earplugs.

The Golden Bear is new to weekend brunch, but that, too, looks promising, especially the peaches and cream French toast, the rustic quichelike frittatas with heirloom tomatoes and mushrooms, and, for the hearty gourmand, the "Breakfast Lucy" – a showcase of quality beef stuffed with cheese, placed on an open-faced bun with avocados, a fried egg, glazed onions draping the meat and a Tabasco aioli that gives the dish a little smack of spicy heat. The coffee: good, too.

Nobody's perfect. The menu could have more muscle, perhaps venturing into full-scale entrees. I'd be curious to see what chef Zoellin might come up with for a larger plate at say, the $18 to $22 price point. How does he do with sauces? What about fuller cuts of meat? A plate of nicely prepared vegetables?

Consistency in the kitchen is also an issue worth watching, as it is at many a restaurant in town when the head chef is not there.

Dessert – there isn't any. Sure, Rick's Dessert Diner is next door, and the Golden Bear wants to be neighborly, but we'd rather try something new and different. Until then, sample the very nice vegan desserts across the street at Sugar Plum. No butter, no eggs, but no shortage of flavor, either.

As for service, the Golden Bear really owes itself to do more in this area. Sure, regulars can amble in, flop down at a table and wait for a beer to show up. But there really should be a smiling someone to greet newcomers and show them to a table. At a restaurant, the first impression should never be an awkward one.

A server is an extension of the kitchen, explaining the chef's intentions, answering questions and selling patrons on his food.

As this neighborhood joint continues to emerge and find the right balance of bar and bistro, it will be a treat to watch Zoellin evolve, too.

Maybe I didn't discover him, but I'm more than happy to jump on the bandwagon.

THE GOLDEN BEAR

2326 K St., Sacramento

www.goldenbear916.com

(916) 441-2242

Hours (for the kitchen): 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (for brunch) and 3-10 p.m. (for dinner).

Takeout? Yes.

Vegetarian-friendly? Very limited.

Full bar? Yes.

Overall: 3 stars (good)

As a casual bar with a creative kitchen, the Golden Bear shines. Attention to its weak spots (noted below) will only make this neighborhood joint better. It's already a hot spot for foodies.

Food: 3 stars (good)

Billy Zoellin is young and striving to be new and creative with his menu while sticking with the best of ingredients. We hear the menu is about to change for the fall-winter season, and we expect the food to measure up once again.

Service: 2 stars (needs improvement)

Sure, they're friendly, but there are some holes that need to be filled: table service for food orders and someone at the entrance to greet folks who may otherwise be confused about how this place works.

Ambience: 2 1/2 stars (pretty good)

Though the place has undergone a serious renovation, it's not in danger of looking like a yuppie bar. The decor says quality, but there's still a relaxed, neo-grunge vibe. The biggest problem is smoking on the porch, where food is served. That's so '80s – and not in a good way.

Value: 3 1/2 stars (very good)

The most expensive thing on the menu is $11, which is the price of a mediocre glass of wine at many restaurants. Given the quality of the cooking, we'd actually welcome a few high-ticket dishes to broaden the dining options.

Noteworthy: Sacramento has become a mecca for the hit Food Network show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives." Several area eateries have already been featured. A crew recently shot an episode at the Golden Bear. Watch for it to air sometime in the next 12 months.After seven years as a popular bar, it's growing up to be a pub with significant gastronomic leanings. Dives don't have the word "heirloom" on the menu; neither do they change the menu with the seasons.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Blair Anthony Robertson, (916) 321-1099.

• Read more articles by Blair Anthony Robertson