Perhaps nowhere but in our indigenous foods — and the way we cook them — do we ever truly break from form and relax. New American cuisine embraces a certain comfort factor. It is fun and approachable without becoming gaudy and contrite. It is sophisticated yet doesn't intimidate. It teaches but never oversteps boundaries. It makes mistakes but is all the more likable for it.

And Kevin Rathbun, chef-owner of Rathbun's in Inman Park, is a master at preparing it. His new restaurant embraces the maxim that food should be enjoyable, creative and innovative, but never fussy. The menu is a textbook lesson of what new American cuisine is — a reflection of local tastes and ingredients melded with concepts of preparation that draw from family rituals, formal dining principles and just plain old common sense.

Simply put, this man knows what ingredients to mix with what and make it all come out tasting real good. Need proof? Try his white corn — sweet, pan-charred and still just a little bit crunchy, mixed with creamily melted, mildly nutty Gouda and a dice of bright tomatoes. Or sultry smoked salmon, so velvety you barely need to chew it, with a creamy mix of heated, heady habaneros, a lemon-zest vinaigrette and a dab of baby greens over a bite-sized square of toasted tortilla. It is at once mild and spicy, sweet and salty, warm and cold.

Rathbun, at 41, has finally hit his peak — and his stride — at the same time. He cooks with a firm, decisive hand and isn't afraid to make mistakes. That's not to say he is impulsive, though. It was a big gamble to go from the security of being the executive chef of the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group to opening a restaurant in a former warehouse on the outskirts of Cabbagetown, where its previous tenant, Virginia's, had failed to make a go of it. That may be why his menu is full of offerings that sound and taste good. He knows it.

He ought to. Like his food, his is a chapter in the quintessential American success story. Gleaned at an early age (14) by esteemed chef Bradley Ogden (then at the American Restaurant, now the chef-owner of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group in California), he laddered his way to Brennan's in Houston, then to famed Commander's Palace (under then-chef Emeril Lagasse) in New Orleans. Stephan Pyles hired him to work at Baby Routh in Dallas, where he was nominated for a James Beard award.

Rathbun then blazed his way onto the restaurant scene in Atlanta as the executive chef at NAVA, where he garnered praise for his innate ability to do exactly what he does at Rathbun's — cull ingredients and methods indigenous to a culture and then blow them out of the water flavor-wise. His roster of restaurants since NAVA reads like a what's what of the Atlanta mise en scene: He opened Bluepointe, then became executive chef of Buckhead Life. Last year, he broke away to open a place of his own.

All this from a guy's kind of guy who, when asked what his favorite food is, will tell you unequivocally and without hesitation: "corn."

And corn shows up in various and sundry ways all over his menu: grits; roasted and creamed as a side dish with Gouda cheese; as masa in tortillas. Juicy, sweet sea scallops are seared with a heavy seasoning of salt, placed over a silky, chile-seasoned hollandaise and served with some of the best grits from here to Memphis — creamy, with bits of smoked ham scattered throughout. After one bite, I wanted to be dipped in them. Bite-sized bluepoint oysters are cornmeal battered and served with a luscious, cream-cheesy, red chile paste and a dipping sauce of light soy, sugar and rice vinegar.

And the scallops are a perfect example of Rathbun's experience and decisiveness. They are clearly, intentionally oversalted. The effect works for some and doesn't for others.

For those it doesn't, there are plenty of other things that will please. Braised brisket of beef, steeped in a smoky, rustic tomato sauce, is so tender it can barely be picked up with a fork. A cheesy quesadilla as its "go with" is overpowered by the heat of poblano peppers, an oddity since this pepper is usually more seductive than hot.

Pricier items are cleverly referred to as "second mortgage" plates on the menu. One, a Maine lobster served in a soft taco, gets lost in the nutty, mild heat of a creamy cascabel sauce. It looks positively pedestrian on the plate, too — a rolled mound of almost unidentifiable ingredients, which is in sharp contrast to Rathbun's usual flair for fastidious plate presentation.

Desserts, from pastry chef Kirk Parks, follow suit to Rathbun's all-American mode: The ice creams are house spun (read: they taste real good), but the best of the bunch is a miniature banana-peanut butter pie, apparently something Parks plucked from heaven's menu. It sounds so simple, and it is — a buttery pastry shell lined with just a wisp of peanut butter and filled with a creamy, scrumptious banana pudding, then crowned with a dreamy, toasted meringue. Elvis would have been proud.

A key lime shortcake makes a good showing, too; its tiny, tart, buttery biscuit filled with sweet whipped cream covers a tempting dollop of sweet, sugary peaches. In the end, though, it plays second fiddle to the peanut butter-and-banana cream pie.

The restaurant itself is as fetching as the menu. The space was redesigned by Atlanta's dream team, the Johnson Studio. Mod and vibrant, the design has managed to keep the industrial look of the interior, while warming it up a bit: bright swaths of fuschia blend with gray tones, while oversized stove-pipe pendant fixtures dangle from the high ceilings. The kitchen is open and luminous, and Rathbun often wanders away from it at quieter moments (which are rare) to walk through the dining room and talk with guests.

Service: For the most part service is prompt and always friendly. Service and kitchen can run slowly, especially at peak hours when the restaurant is very busy (which is almost all the time).

Setting: Mod, vibrant industrial setting in an old warehouse, with tones of gray and fuschia and impressive suspended stove-pipe pendants. One wall is bathed in brick painted in gray and dotted with gray pottery in a monochromatic theme that when backlit, almost looks like moving water

Address, telephone: 112 Krog Street, Atlanta, 404-524-8280

Hours: Open for dinner Monday through Saturday, 5:30 to 11

Price range: One of the most reasonably priced menus in the area. The menu is divided: Small plates, raw plates and soup bowls cost $5 to $8; big plates are $14 to $20. "Second mortgage" plates are $27 to $33. Sides are $4. Desserts are smallish, $3.15 each or four for $10.

Credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, Discover

Recommended dishes: Bluepoint oysters two ways, short-smoked salmon tostadas with habenero peppers and baby greens, Yaya's eggplant steak fries with confectioner's sugar, creamed white corn and Gouda cheese, peanut butter-banana cream pie

Full bar or wine/beer: Yes

Reservations: Accepted

Vegetarian selections: Mushroom risotto with Holly Farms aged goat cheese, Krog Street (house-made) mozzarella with tomatoes and torn basil, Shaved zucchini with Parmigiano Reggiano and lemon verbena, hand-cut French fries with blue cheese fondue

Children: Welcome, but the atmosphere here is really a "see and be seen" crowd

Parking: Valet parking or parking lot

Wheelchair access: Yes

Smoking: In lounge area only and on the patio Noise level: Very high. You may be hoarse the morning after.

Patio: Yes, with lots of seating