BY LARRY LIPSON >RESTAURANT CRITIC

Although it's disconcerting to see yet another entity using the word "gourmet " as an adjective, the new Granville in Burbank which describes itself as a "casual gourmet café" is worth watching.

And worth visiting.

With its chainlike characteristics mixed with innovative, independent-style touches, Granville manages to seduce hungry palates with fresh and appealing fare at reasonable tariff.

Call it a casual café for gourmets or a café for casual gourmets if you have to, but what I see is an informal eating place with a kitchen that's strong in the homey, tasty, familiar kind of food that all of us crave, perhaps with a nifty, much-appreciated artistic bonus or two.

Like its soups, deeply satisfying, intensely flavored, served steaming hot, almost meal-size if you order the bowl ($7.50).

Every day there's a nourishing split pea rendition ($4.25 per cup) upgraded at no extra cost by the addition of Portuguese-style linguice sausage plus a daub of crème fraiche and a hint of pico de gallo.

Or try the rib-eye beef stew soup on a Sunday or Monday. Here's an old-fashioned favorite that's usually offered as an entrée, but at Granville it's a rich, warming starter full of steak chunks, tomato and pearl onions finished off cleverly with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and Point Reyes bleu cheese.

Untried soups include garlic tomato bisque and butternut squash regulars and lobster bisque (Thursday through Saturday) and white tortilla (Tuesday and Wednesday).

All right you hordes of gourmets out there, yes, Granville does boost its lobster bisque with apple brandy and garnishes its butternut squash soup with dried cranberries, walnuts and parsley.

So we know that it's a good bet that a kitchen that pays this much attention to its soups usually prepares superior main courses.

Perfect example is the Granville pork chop dinner ($19.95), which brings forth a lovely, thick, 3/4-pound, bone-in chop that's alluringly moist and tongue-tingly with a Cajun spice rub.

It arrives perched provocatively on a bed of garlicky sautéed baby spinach - yes, it's organic - accompanied by plenty of crisp, sweet potato fries and a fruity mango-cranberry compote.

For the steak fancier, the 10-ounce filet mignon ($27.95), gratifyingly tender and juicy, is delivered with Yukon Gold and Russet potatoes and grilled herb vegetables.

 
Granville, with its contemporary outlook that includes nine menu items that are specifically dubbed shareable, special quick counter-ordering service before dinnertime on weekdays, and the use of natural and organic ingredients, sets the tone for restaurant chains of the future.

At its best: Could be better: Should list prices, subject to change of course, on Web site menus.

review>

GRANVILLE

>Rating:

>Details: 121 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank. Full bar. Open for lunch (counter ordering) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, dinner (full service) from 4 to 10 p.m nightly, to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Breakfast/brunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. (Full service all day Saturday and Sunday.) (818) 848-4726. www.granvillecafe.com

>Cost: Starters from $4.25 to $13, pastas and entrees from $10 to $32, desserts: $6 to $12. Corkage: $10.

>Noteworthy: Chocolate cake here was named by one local publication as Burbank's best dessert. A second Granville opens in May in Glendale.

>Recommended items: Rib-eye stew soup, split pea soup, filet mignon, Cajun-rubbed pork chop. Full bar. (121 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank, 818-848-4726.) $$.