Justin's, the longtime Lark Street anchor restaurant DeJohn bought a few months ago from Joe Palma, is going through the changes he promised.

There's a new menu, a new chef (John Futia, bumped up from the sous chef position held under the departed Chris Sissini), a new general manager (Ryan Weber, longtime Justin's waiter who became the startup GM across the street at Lulu's when DeJohn bought that spot from Palma last year and put his surname on it) and … maybe most important … a new attitude and resolve.

Justin's had been a star attraction for 15 years or so, ever since Ric Orlando created its first real grownup menu before moving on to create the New World Cooking Company in Saugerties. Since then, under a succession of chefs, it has remained grounded in tastes of the Southwest, the Caribbean and of Asia, and such time-tested favorites as Jamaican jerk chicken and ropa vieja endured.

However, persistent financial problems and an increasingly worn feel to the place signaled the end. DeJohn, wife Monika … the decor guru in the family, Weber and others who stuck with the ship even when it appeared on the verge of sinking have begun the climb back up.

The wainscoting has been newly refinished (thus the fragrance). The tiny restrooms will, mercifully, be overhauled. The now-visible kitchen won't be after some walls are tweaked. And, the general decor will undergo a slow but steady refurbishing from the bar side to the Savoy dining room side of the basement-level operation.

Longtimers will be pleased to see the ropa vieja‚, jerk chicken and spiced shrimp made the cut on Futia's new winter menu. But, we wanted to try the new stuff, so after Maker's Mark Manhattans … served chilled in new, larger cocktail glasses that were one of the first things DeJohn brought in … we began the test.

I started with a pair of almond coated shrimp cakes, pan seared and served over a bed of crisp frisee. The chunky, tasty cakes were made even better with the accompanying nuoc cham dipping sauce, a chili/garlic concoction that is one of those fermented-fish-based Vietnamese standards that sound terrible but could make even a running shoe taste heavenly.

Companion opted for the soup of the day, a squash puree with elements of jalapeno and lime. It took a dash of salt to make the autumn squash flavor come alive. The mild heat of the jalapeno was evident and welcome, but the lime element was not discernible. Too bad. The combo sounded promising.

My entree was a grilled marlin special, the dense steak cut from the bluewater game fish served with a creamy stuffing of scallops and shrimp. Good as it was, I was bowled over by its principal accompaniment, a pair of potato/rice/blue cheese cakes.

The puck-sized cakes were so perfectly cooked the coating was crisp, the inside creamy and there was no discernible gradation from one texture to the other. It was as if the coating had been gently wrapped around the filling to maximize the tastes and mouth feel of both.

Companion had selected the grilled center cut pork chop from the new menu. It was described as being served with creamy smashed potatoes, Guinness braised cabbage and tart apples. The meat was excellent, verging on the taste and texture of pulled pork. The accompaniments were much less so: potatoes that seemed more like risotto, cabbage of no particular note, and no hint of the promised apples.

Desserts got everything back on track. Mine was a custardy, standard creme brulee, hers a caramel cheesecake from an array of such things supplied by a local private baker, plus a cup of good decaf coffee.

Our bill, before tip, was $88.87, bumped quite a bit by the $8 cocktails.

Just as DeJohn and his team raised Lulu's to its current high level under the DeJohn's name, all indications are that they'll eventually do the same with Justin's. It already is back to above average.

William M. Dowd's weekly restaurant reviews are archived online at http://timesunion.com/entertainment/restaurants. He can be reached at 454-5411 or wdowd@timesunion.com.