Basic works best at Healdsburg's Persimmon on the Square

When I was growing up in Japan some time ago, ramen became nearly a daily staple. Not the plastic wrapped dry stuff on which college students subsist, certainly, but the real handcrafted wheat noodles made with kansui, a naturally alkaline mineral water that gives the skinny curls their distinctive yellowish hue and firm texture.

It was sublime no matter where I slurped it, be it at a nice restaurant with my parents or a subway station stand-up bar as an after-school treat. It was deep flavored with long-simmered chicken or pork broth, kissed with anything from kombu (kelp) to katsuobushi (skipjack tuna flakes) or niboshi (dried baby sardines), and topped with everything from tonkatsu pork to narutomaki sliced fish roll and al dente vegetables.

For years, I’ve been searching for perfect ramen in Sonoma County, and with the opening of Persimmon on the Square in Healdsburg, I might be one baby step closer. The broth doesn’t soar - it’s salt more than anything else - and the noodles are imported rather than made on site, but the other components are mostly on target. I plucked up ample shards of Peking duck, poke around for the many delectable shiitakes, nibble spicy red peppers, scallions and tender, juicy bok choy and relish the halved, soft-cooked duck egg with its massive, orange-gold yolk ($18).

Unfortunately, I also spat out bits of leather-tough duck meat here and there, and disregarded, after one taste, the ma po sauce that my server brought as a mix-in, even as she warned us it tended to be a bitter mix of black bean paste, red chile and soy.

This cheerful place has potential but isn’t quite ripe yet, with the kitchen working to put a contemporary twist on classics. Executive chef Danny Mai takes broad strokes to his concept, riffing on east and southeast Asia (he hails from Vietnam), with an eclectic array of dishes like northern China green onion pancakes that are actually more like nachos, fried wafers scattered with minced pork, shiitake, torn greens and droplets of mild XO sauce ($11). The dish is tasty, and I understand the fusion attempt, yet the menu should warn it will not be the real Chinese pancake I was salivating for.

For the chef, formerly of Tolay Restaurant & Lounge at the Sheraton Sonoma County-Petaluma, basic seems to work best. I could eat a dozen of the Shanghai pork-shrimp steamed dumplings, the five bite-sized nubbins lined up and framed by sliced watermelon radish and scallions in a puddle of shoyu chile sauce ($9). Spring rolls are delicious, too, the translucent wrappers stuffed with lots of julienne veggies and rice vermicelli ($10). And I liked the Peking duck bao because the meat is tender throughout, stuffed in doughy steamed buns with Fresno chile, cilantro and cucumber all lightly dressed in hoisin gastrique ($14).

I’d hang out in this pretty place for its friendly vibe, an appetizer or two and the nice drinks. The space, the former Charcuterie, has been completely transformed into a chic spot with weathered wood, an open kitchen area flanked by a bar, and a wall of paper parasols and woven hats. My Spicy Jalapeño is a bright cocktail of sake, jalapeño, lime juice and basil ($9), and it’s lovely along with orange and oolong tea smoked quail, the tiny bird splayed across a julienne papaya medley spiked with serious chile kick ($16).

Still, for a staple like the “Pho You,” I’ll go to a real ethnic shop like Pho Vietnam in Santa Rosa (and pay much less, by the way). This broth just doesn’t reach the savory thrill of the original, though it bobs with fine brisket, house-made meatballs and slippery rice noodles. Ginger chicken porridge, meanwhile, is nothing like traditional congee, but a bland dish of soft rice topped in slow poached chicken, carrots, bok choy, gai lan and red chiles ($20).

Some dishes are nods to mainstream dining, such as pan-seared Piedmontese flat-iron steak served with two eggs over medium, mild house made kimchee and fried rice ($24). I don’t know why there’s a sunny side egg with the grilled Niman Ranch pork chops atop quinoa, either ($22), except that eggs are all the rage these days. Satisfying dishes, nonetheless.

Yet then the Asian bouillabaisse appears - and it’s excellent - in a big bowl of rich red broth kicked up with gochujang Korean chile paste, julienne carrot, fennel and zucchini. The star is the seafood, featuring expertly firm-cooked prawns, little purple clams and a superb fillet of lightly breaded, fried red snapper. We sop it up with grilled bread ribboned in aioli ($26).

I had high hopes for the Tres Leche Waffle - Mai works with brothers Octavio and Pedro Diaz, owners of three Mexican restaurants and a Mexican market in Healdsburg and Windsor. But like many of the dishes here, the flavors are inconsistent. On one visit, the dessert was terrific. Yet on another, the three waffle triangles were fluffy-crisp, but there was barely a hint of tres leche, just small drizzles of crème fraiche topped in sprinkles of candied pistachio dust, and no sign of the promised Persimmon brulee ($7).

Up down, up down, Persimmon has its highlights, and its creativity is admirable. The fix is easy, too. With bolder flavors and more reliable cooking, we could be on to something really memorable.