Cafe Stravaganza is a colorful paean to its creator.

This is a story about a story I pieced together while eating at this colorful extension of what must truly be a colorful character, Mr. Fuad Bahou, proprietor of Cafe Stravaganza.

Bahou, firstly an artist, both in the formally trained and practically learned manner, has fashioned a space teeming with creative juice. Bold colors, bouncing from his artwork as restaurant decor, call you in. Apparently, after graduating UCLA in 1966 with a Master''s in Fine Arts, Bahou went to the Southeast and studied black folk art. He taught art in Tennessee and Georgia.

In 1971 he opened a restaurant in Knoxville, Tenn., then a few more in Knoxville, Atlanta and Durham, N.C. Traveling became a passion and Mr. Bahou visited the four corners of the globe, absorbing multicultural spills with his artist''s sponge-like spirit. His restaurants at that time, with Bahou directly involved in the cooking, must have been exciting and adventuresome. I can picture the high energy experimentation each day as Mr. Bahou would fuse together memorable ingredients into personal expressions of culinary creativity.

In 1984, he opened Chutney''s Gourmet Cafe here in Carmel. Again (I assume) he must have been directly involved in the preparation of the food. About nine years ago, Cafe Stravaganza was born. I don''t know when Mr. Bahou began phasing himself away from the commercial kitchen grindstone but I certainly understand the self-preservational need to do so, especially when he has such an inexhaustible fountain of artistic output with his painting. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the beautiful visual feast that greets diners at Stravaganza, the art does not continue onto the plate.

The menu itself is dense and stimulating, just like his artwork, with many varied components brought together. Appetizers like dolmas, eggplant mozzarella, hummus, pizza fries, mussels Monterey and lamb Maqli juxtapose with a gaggle of salads and soups, all of which seem inviting, interesting and creative. There are pasta dishes galore, vegetarian choices aplenty, rollups, and Stravaganza specialties like ginger chicken and seafood Stravaganza.

Burgers and sandwiches form a whole other section of the menu, as does a complete pizza department in three different sizes, plus calzones. Add a small children''s menu and desserts, and voila--a menu with the breadth and depth of the most ambitious Greek diners (a fascinating blip on the restaurant radar screen, common in major cities throughout the East Coast and Middle America).

The kind of kitchen person who can understand the scope of that many different influences, be able to properly prepare them, break down at night and prepare for tomorrow, while withstanding the nearly violent assault upon his/her physical and emotional stability inherent in full-time commercial cooking, is as rare as snow in San Francisco. But my guess is that Fuad Bahou is probably one of them.

Unfortunately (not for Mr. Bahou), he no longer straps himself into the gastronomic gunner''s turret to fly daily missions through hostile airspace, facing his and his crew''s continual peril. He does come in in the mornings to make all the desserts himself, so his personal touch is still available. The caramel custard (flan, crème brulee) we tried was perfect. I wish I could have experienced this man''s food at his peak. I''ll wager a king''s ransom that he was one of the Titans. In the present time, however, Cafe Stravaganza doesn''t live up to its name, its majestic decor, nor its owner''s legacy.

Nice touches like top-notch bread when you first sit down, along with hand-poured olive oil and a scoop of Zaatar, a mixture of Greek oregano, basil, sage, sumac, sesame seeds and lemon which creates a subtly zestful dipping sauce, were offset by our appetizer, the eggplant mozzarella which was only average. Very nice gazpacho, chunky, slightly crunchy, mildly spicy, fresh and alive with well-integrated vegetable flavors was forgotten when the entrees arrived.

The seafood Stravaganza (a Cioppino style dish) was no extravaganza. Tired rice (the same one that pilafed my entree) filled half the platter. The seafood itself, which could have been more plentiful, was unevenly cooked, although flavors were good.

I had lamb Marsala. The lamb, a kind of sirloin cut, was draped with Brie and came with a Marsala wine sauce, a lovely array of al dente vegetables and the very tired rice pilaf. The dish''s concept was strong; its execution was not. The lamb, although good quality and flavorful, was too overdone, draining it of its juicyness. What could have been an interesting dish became institutional by poor execution.

We went there on a Monday evening. Chances are the regular chef takes Monday nights off and the person cooking that night was out of his/her depth. But you''ve got to deliver the goods when you''re open for business.

I don''t mean to be unduly harsh in my criticism. I just feel that Cafe Stravaganza is another example of what happens so often in this industry. A very talented individual, who has the magic to make people happy, gets to the point when it''s time to get out of the kitchen and just be an owner. Rarely does the quality of preparation, which is the key to it all, continue without dropping considerably.

Unless someone with the comparable gifts of Mr. Bahou can execute the complex menu daily, this restaurant is destined to be a museum to one very talented man''s artistic visions and expressions, and like a museum, only a glimpse into the past.

241 Crossroads Shopping Center, 625-3733. Lunch and dinner daily.