LONG BEACH, Wash. – More than its setting, service or ambience, a restaurant is sometimes defined by its chef and how she organizes her kitchen, prepares her meals and satisfies her customers.

In a scant two months, Vinessa Mulinix has imprinted her culinary personality on the Beach House Cafe, an impressive new eatery situated behind the dunes near downtown Long Beach.

Mulinix brings ample experience to her tasks at Beach House. Most recently, she served as sous chef at the Port Bistro in Ilwaco, Wash. Apparently, Mulinix favors the more casual milieu at Beach House, where she’s unrestrained to work her personal brand of kitchen wizardry. Good thing, because the restaurant lacks much of a personality beyond what the chef brings to the table (preview the seasonal menu at www.thebeachhousecafe.com).

Aptly named, the Beach House was just that in a past life, serving as the home of owners Brandy and Tiffany Turner, both Long Beach Peninsula natives. Presently, “The Loft” guest accommodations are upstairs; at restaurant level, there’s an open kitchen, and in the former living quarters, a dining area with 10 tables, too many for such a small room. When the restaurant gets crowded (and it’s already popular), the tone can get loud, even raucous, like when more guests show up for a party than the hostess expected. Still, with the fireplace, the funky tables and mismatched chairs, a couch, a wall-length white bookcase stocked with reading material and board games, TV above, it’s cozy, for sure.

Mulinix’s food is satisfying, but it’s not comfort food. Preparations are imaginative, even inventive, but not daring, and colorful without being frilly. While yogurt parfaits, waffles with maple syrup and sourdough pan-fried oysters exit Mulinix’s kitchen, so does a dazzling beef Wellington finished with smoked blue cheese and an intensely flavorful crimini demi-glace. And talk about showy: Skewered ginger prawns served atop pearl-colored rice noodles afford an eye-catching contrast. Too bad the coconut-sake sauce is unappealing, even bland; like sake, an acquired taste, I presume. A little color beyond the few shreds of nori would have helped, too, in rendering the dish a bit less austere.

Chicken is frequently a restaurant afterthought, on the menu only for those diners who desire a meal somewhere between surf and turf. Often the fowl is paired with pasta, as the chicken piccata is here. But this is no ordinary bird. Rather it’s rich and hearty, a huge bowl full of spaghetti tossed with capers, artichoke hearts and baby tomatoes, all bathed in a lusty broth. And the tender thick-cut slabs of chicken breast come graced with shaved Parmesan. “It’s the best chicken I’ve ever eaten,” my dining companion practically shouted in glee.

Good as it is, the piccata competes with a poached halibut filet, green peppercorn-encrusted sturgeon that’s freshened with teriyaki, and a puff-pastry Tart Rustica as the menu’s finest. But what’s with the overdressed Caesar, an unwelcome trend in these parts? A few dollops of Beach House’s tangy dressing (anchovies available on request) goes a long way, so why slather the chopped-up romaine?

Dessert revolves around fruit crisps, Swedish cream and chocolate this and that. One visit, we ordered what our waitress described as an ice cream cookie sundae. When she supplied forks instead of spoons, I became suspicious. Fact is, this was no sundae; we required a knife to slice through the hard chocolate crust enclosing the vanilla innards. Once inside, however, this became a chocoholic’s delight, especially with the syrup drizzled along the “sundae’s” perimeter. Next visit, the lime chiffon pie with graham cracker crust was every bit as big (easily enough for two) and a lot more pliable, as well as luscious.

The wine list, although brief, shows what’s possible with a little thought. Forego the house chardonnay or merlot from Stimson and choose among five whites, an equal number of reds and a lone sparkler, costing $6 a glass or $22 a bottle. In some cases (say, the Maryhill Viognier), the wine is priced only 50 percent or so more than the supermarket or wine shop, a bargain for a restaurant (where markups generally are much higher). Blackboard specials are good deals, as well: Witness a Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir Rose that sells for $18.

Beach House service complements the restaurant’s funky atmosphere. Amber, our waitress on two occasions, was perky, bubbly, beachy casual, well versed about the menu (excepting the wine list) and enthusiastic as all get-out. “They’re lucky to have her,” my partner commented after Amber provided a thorough explanation of the history of Beach House and the Inn at Discovery Coast, a lodging just west and also owned by the Turners. Amber’s commentary was so engaging, she captured the attention of every other diner, and the room momentarily fell silent.

So the setting, the decor and the service, though welcoming, don’t exactly pair with the creative fare? No worries. Disregard the uninteresting interior and sometimes earsplitting sound levels and grab a table next to the west-facing windows. Vinessa Mulinix’s cooking is only slightly less sublime than the view out over the dunes all the way to the ocean.

Contact the Mouth at The Daily Astorian, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103, phone (503) 325-3211 or e-mail mouth@dailyastorian.com