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MOAB - Moab Springs Ranch has been a local watering hole for 111 years. For much of that time, the watering really was all about water because the homestead, built of native handmade brick, was an oasis in the desert dust of southern Utah.

For two years, it's been the home of Desert Bistro, one of a few options in a town faced with a seasonal but growing demand for fine dining. Like many rural places that have been "discovered" by recreation seekers, Moab is under pressure to provide haute cuisine to people with money from big cities all over the world.

And bless them, the owners of Desert Bistro are trying, with mixed results.

The two-story restaurant has two dining rooms, outfitted with furniture made of local pine, that can seat about 30 people. Those tables can be reserved, but seating on the patio, which is shady but a little noisy due to the highway, is first-come, first-served. Service is friendly and efficient; we were seated promptly, although servers should be instructed to greet diners as they arrive. Diners must navigate their way across the patio to the hostess area inside the house. It's a little confusing.

Every meal begins with a bang - hot, housemade wheat bread served with a dipping sauce of canola and pumpkin seed oil steeped in lavender, grown on-site. It's a winning, out-of-the-box pairing that could lead to overindulgence.

The menu has a Southwestern bent, with flavorings that include chipotle, Anaheim and poblano chilies. Entrees range from a "vegetable stack" loaded with eggplant, peppers, squash and tofu and accessorized with pine nuts ($18) to mushroom risotto ($20), a pine-nut crusted chicken breast with goat-cheese-stuffed tortelli ($17), and smoked elk tenderloin with a huckleberry/chipotle pepper/port wine sauce ($33).

The latter is some serious coin for an a la carte menu in rural Utah, which diners will reasonably assume means the owners intend to compete with the best of 'em - in Salt Lake City or Berlin.

And they have chosen a spectacular setting, what with the restaurant's view of The Portal, a regional landmark carved over eons by the Colorado River. The view is marred by power lines and the parking lot, however, which I mention not because the owners necessarily have control over those things. They just seem symbolic of how the Desert Bistro menu translates from kitchen to plate. The food descriptions are grand, the ingredients high quality, but the execution is sometimes slightly off, like a cluttered view of a landscape so awesome it could be a painted backdrop to a John Wayne movie.

Exhibit A is an appetizer of salmon, scallops and avocado packaged in a neat little mound, or timbale ($9). The salmon is cured in salt then basted with tequila and the sea scallops are smoked for extra flavor. The packaging is clever, with graceful curls of red and yellow pepper and lime aioli adding visual interest and a little kick. But the avocado edges were black, which happens when it's exposed to air.

That didn't hurt its complex blend of flavors. But it looked spoiled, like the view.

Another visual turnoff was the salad of bibb lettuce with the contrasting crunch of red pears, jicama and candied walnuts ($9). It has a sweet pomegranate dressing, which trickles into the multitude of little crevices in the lettuce, making them look like blood vessels. Beyond that freaky mental picture, the dressing is overly sweet. Change the color and dial down the sugar in the dressing and this would be a great salad.

Given the choice again, I'd opt for the Caesar with a chipotle chili dressing and toasted cornbread croutons ($7) or organic mixed greens with gorgonzola, toasted sesame seeds, parmesan and a balsamic vinaigrette ($8).

Unless you're ravenous, Desert Bistro's portions are generous enough that a salad and appetizer (plus that fabulous bread) can make a meal. The crab cakes (made with shellfish flown in from Florida several times a week) come as twins, plated with a white butter sauce spiked with pineapple and ancho chili and a dollop of pineapple salsa ($11). The crab's delicate flavor almost gets shouted down by the aggressive accoutrements, but it's still a pleasant outing for your taste buds.

We also sampled the lamb loin ($29), which was perfectly cooked to order and tender. But again, the flavors were slightly off, with the chipotle and mint demi-glace overpowering the meat instead of enhancing it. A sidebar of layered, baked sweet potatoes needed caramelizing to bring out their sweetness. But the grilled peas, garnished with radishes, were genius.

Housemade desserts ($6-$12) offers multiple tempting choices, from chocolate mousse and rhubarb apple crisp to a lemon bundt cake with blueberries, billed as the owner's family recipe. It was moist and dense, with a pronounced citrus flavor. We only wanted more of the berries.

Desert Bistro has a full-service bar and a wine list comprised of mostly California vintages, with a dozen selections available by the glass ($5-$9).

I'll eat again at Desert Bistro when I visit Moab, because I love to sit in the shade of those old trees and think about the history of that place, which Robert LeRoy Parker (better known as Butch Cassidy) reportedly visited. Like the view, the food isn't perfect. But Desert Bistro has a creative spark, a vibrant sign of life in this beautiful but harsh landscape.

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* ANNE WILSON can be contacted at awilson@sltrib.com or 801-257-8608. Send comments about this story to living editor@sltrib.com.

Desert Bistro

* OVERALL RATING:

* FOOD:

* MOOD:

* SERVICE:

* NOISE: 2 bells

* IN A NUTSHELL: A good option for fine dining in Moab, although not every dish lives up to its billing - and price.

* WHERE: 1266 N. Highway 191, Moab; 435-259-0756

* HOURS: Open daily mid-April through October, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. (closed Mondays in July and August)

* WEB SITE: http://www.desertbistro.com

* CHILDREN'S MENU: Yes

* PRICES: $$$

* LIQUOR: Full bar

* CORKAGE: None

* RESERVATIONS: Accepted

* TAKEOUT: Yes

* WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes

* OUTDOOR DINING: Yes

* ON-SITE PARKING: Yes

* CREDIT CARDS: All major