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THE FIRST TIME I tried Lush, a new restaurant in Inman Park, I decided not to write about it. The food had little flavor and I found myself yearning for salt, eggs and cheese.

JENNI GIRTMAN/AJC STAFF (ENLARGE)
The desserts at Lush are shipped in from Decatur, and the peanut butter mousse cake garnished with fresh, edible flowers is a recommended treat.
JENNI GIRTMAN/AJC STAFF (ENLARGE)
Chilaquiles made with fire-roasted white corn, tortillas, soya-kaas cheese, black-bean chile, charred tomatos, grilled eggplant, zucchini and carrots served with guacamole con frutas.
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LUSH Overall rating: Food: Upscale vegan cuisine Service: Enthusiastic, prompt, sometimes even appropriately playful Setting: Sandwiched between Freedom Parkway and North Highland Avenue, the owners have done a miraculous job of reviving the area with landscaping that includes lots of plush florals. Inside, cool, soothing tones of butter yellow and straight architectural lines lend a modern touch. Address, telephone: 913 Bernina Ave., N.E., Atlanta, 404-223-9292 Hours: Open for dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Open for lunch Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. and brunch on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Price range: Cold and hot appetizers $6 to $12, entrees are $14 to $16 Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, Discover Recommended dishes: Chilaquiles, endive salad, white bean hummus with assorted olives, crisped bean curd, peanut butter mousse cake Full bar or wine/beer: Yes. The wine list is small but well-chosen Reservations: Accepted Children: Welcome Parking: Valet parking or on-street Wheelchair access: Yes, through a side door; restrooms are fully accessible Smoking: On the patio Noise level: Medium Patio: Yes, with plenty of seating Takeout: Yes OUR STAR RATING SYSTEM Outstanding. Sets the standard for fine dining in the region. Excellent. One of the best in the Atlanta area. Very good. Merits a drive if you're looking for this kind of dining. Good. A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss. Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Fair or Poor.

Then I went back. And back again.

A transformation had occurred. What had been flavorless was suddenly bright. Bold even. Tomatoes that were once dull and mealy tasted almost daring. Broths and sauces that seemed to have no pluck at all were suddenly — cleverly — seasoned and luminous. Nothing had changed as far as the offerings go. The menu was precisely the same.

What had changed was the chef.

But now I'm ahead of myself, so keep that thought. In the meantime, some needed background to flesh out the story (pardon the carnivorous reference): Lush is an upscale vegan restaurant.

Let me say that again, because it warrants repeating: Lush is an upscale vegan restaurant.

Not exactly a venue that chefs and restaurateurs are rushing to open in these parts. It's owned by Isaac Adelenge and partner Charlotte Macbagito, who is finishing her training at the Art Institute of Atlanta's culinary school. And yes, they are both vegetarians; he is vegan.

They developed Lush with the idea that vegetarian cuisine — particularly vegan — need not only be exciting to vegetarians. They hired a top gun-type chef, Todd Unkefer, to help develop a menu, and found a funky, trendy space in the industrial area of Inman Park sandwiched between Freedom Parkway and North Highland Avenue.

They landscaped the lawn and amply sized patio with, yes, lush greenery. The entranceway is ensconced in oversized pots of bright green sweet potato plants and plush, purple wandering Jew; large grasses and flowers seem to loom and bloom everywhere. There's even a kitschy little waterfall. Inside, shades of buttery yellow and light green bathe the dining area's high walls, lit dimly with retro track lighting.

Even so, the overall ambiance breathes brightness, with clean architectural lines and hardwood floors. The owners installed new windows, doors, all the kitchen equipment, a full bar — then opened just over seven weeks ago.

Soon into operation, sous chef Nicholas Domingo, a self-taught California native new to Atlanta, took over for Unkefer, who is no longer there.

That explains things. The difference between what was coming from Unkefer's kitchen and what is coming from Domingo's, for whatever reasons, is marked. Domingo's food, while not perfect, is playful and flavorful. Unkefer's was blasé.

The layered landscape of chilaquiles is a perfect vehicle for vegetarian cuisine, even vegan. Domingo's version is boldly flavored, smoky and sultry with cumin and ancho chiles. Sure, it substitutes Soya Kaas cheese for the real thing, so the tangy gooey-ness of queso fresco and queso anejo are missing. But that is a limitation of veganism, not Domingo's abilities.

Indeed, Domingo — who is not a vegetarian — seems to delight in the challenge. And this cuisine is challenging, whether anyone wants to come right out and say it or not: no animal products of any kind can be used in its preparation.

The eggs and butter that would normally be used for stabilizing, binding and finishing sauces are replaced with tofu, especially silken tofu. Its flavor and texture changes dramatically the timbre of a given dish. Turbinado sugar is used instead of refined sugar. Plant and vegetable oils are used instead of butter and shortening. About the only thing at Lush that could resemble a living organism is the yeast used in the whole wheat bread.

If you are vegetarian, it will taste normal to you. If you are not, there are only a few dishes on Lush's menu that will leave you jonesing for a quarter-pounder.

These few use substitute vegetable proteins (you know, the fake stuff) where shrimp or crab would be in a dish — which prompts me to ponder several things. One: Why put fake animal products in a cuisine that disdains the use of animal products? Two: Honestly, doesn't using a fake product in a dish like Lush's "mock lobster" martini — a pretty little concoction of crunchy corn and avocado with a yellow tomato relish served fetchingly in a martini glass — just beg for comparison to the real thing? And isn't that exactly what veganism disdains in the first place? Why not just explore the cuisine on its own terms?

I'd much rather munch on the hearty, downright meaty quality of a potato latke — shredded potatoes mixed with the mellow flavor of caramelized Vidalia onions, pan fried and served with a sweet, rosemary-scented apple chutney made from tart Granny Smiths. Or an endive salad with long, elegant slices of Asian pears and feathery mizuna, tossed with a light sherry vinaigrette and toasted, crunchy, caramelized hazelnuts.

Nuts could be used more often on Lush's menu, actually. A rice noodle stir fry of super-fresh white asparagus, red peppers, carrots and sliced mushroom caps has a bright, satisfying flavor from lemongrass, but its taste is ultimately one-dimensional. I longed for toasted almonds and coconut milk while I was eating it.

One-note tonality is an issue with cubes of crisped bean curd (tofu) as well. With this dish, the sweet-and-sour chili glaze has high notes of hot flavor, but so much so that it devours the balancing subtleties of orange juice and white soy sauce.

And it is that balance of flavor — layered flavor — that proves most challenging for the menu at Lush. Many dishes achieve it, like the chilaquiles, a cumin-laced, creamy hummus served with a sexy mix of black and green olives and slices of ultra-thin corn wafers. Many, like the mock lobster martini and a lackluster gazpacho, don't.

Desserts perhaps present an even bigger challenge to the vegan cook than any other part of the menu. Lush opts to outsource theirs from Southern Sweets Bakery in Decatur, and owner Adelenge maintains they are solidly vegan. Like much of the rest of the menu, most are very good at one flavor but lack any real depth.

A peanut butter mousse cake is the best of the lot. It's a dense chocolate cake layered with a silky-smooth, peanut butter-tofu mousse and has the added punch of peanuts to offset the cloying sweetness of the overall effect. And the fluffy banana mousse and dense chocolate bottom of banana "lush" pie is like a slice of chunky monkey without the Ben & Jerry's.

A vegan menu. An upscale vegan menu at that. Domingo has his work cut out for him. Lush succeeds when it explores and elaborates on the possibilities of this muticultural cuisine, rather than sheepishly reminding us of its limitations.