Le Guignol has been around in one form or another since the 1980s, but ask your average restaurant-goer and either he hasn't heard of it or she has never eaten there. Nine years ago, Shane Sutton took over, and almost two years ago, he moved to Las Vegas, where he is now the special events and banquet director at the Palms casino resort.

He left it in good hands. Younger brother Travis Sutton, who started off as a dishwasher, has updated 95 percent of the menu, he estimates. In an effort to expand his clientele — he hopes to attract younger eaters — "I'm bringing more contemporary style into the menu," he says.

Because right now, it's largely 50-and-older Blaisdell Concert Hall-goers who are in on this little secret. (And now for the disclosure: Sutton's father works for The Advertiser.)

But with the passing of TGIFriday's, the only other restaurant that was within spitting distance of Blaisdell, the restaurant's fortunes are changing. It's booked almost solid for dinner for the duration of "The Lion King" run.

Sutton's menu redo shows. Still there is the scallop starter, veal sweetbreads (though the preparation changes weekly — and last week's lightly breaded version was a winner) and rack of lamb. But moving away from old-school French cuisine, he's added dishes such as pan-roasted 'opakapaka atop a bed of lentils. Simple, and wringing everything out of the few true flavors. The skillfully cooked fish, with the meat moist and the skin crisp, arrives in brown butter, while the "anchovy-scented" green lentils have a delicate depth to them, adding flavor as well as texture to the dish.

Le Guignol's pork chop just may usurp 12th Avenue Grill's version as a top "can eat all the time" dish. The extra tender roasted, boneless chop is succulent — not an adjective often used with pork — in a subtly sweet jus dressed up with champagne vinegar and bits of dried Mission fig and spears of fresh rosemary on top.

Sutton may have started out scrubbing plates here, but three years ago he spent six months in the kitchen of the well-regarded La Fleur de Sel in Brest. The stage left him with a good grasp of the French essentials.

"I'm trying to show people that French food isn't so scary," says Sutton. "I'll let everybody else do fusion."

Flavors are deep in dishes such as a cappuccino glass full of a frothy mix of pureed cauliflower, snow crab, black truffles and cilantro. Morsels of artichoke-and-mushroom sausage with bits of apple and mesclun and Dijon aioli seem plain and nondescript, but the ingredients marry well.

The place is BYOB, so don't forget a nice Tavel rose or Côte du Rhône while summer lingers.

Must-eat dessert: lavender-scented chocolate — it's like a Viennese hot chocolate (the chocolate yest version ever).

It's disconcerting eating next door to where I used to see Dr. Kometani as a kid, but the freres Sutton have it kitted out to resemble a grandmere's dining room, with embroidered mesh curtains. Ceiling fans twirl along to accordion music. Sit on the terrace and look out at the big banyans of Thomas Square.

With Sutton's mother, former hula dancer Leilani Sutton, making guests feel like she's their mom, too, Le Guignol is sort of the Gallic, homier counterpart to town restaurant, where chef Ed Kenney's mother, Bev Noa, also a former hula dancer, coolly and elegantly greets customers.

Sutton just ended summer lunch service, in preparation for his "Lion King" run. However, for matinee-goers he'll start serving a Sunday brunch Sept. 9, with dishes such as a duck confit crepe. And don't miss his superb croque monsieur (baguette slices all salty and gooey with GruyEre cheese and aioli), which will be back as a croque madame — with an egg on top. Hopefully he'll revive his light-lunch tartines, too — open-face sandwiches with ingredients like soft-shell crab and avocado.

But right now he's looking forward to a week's break, Sept. 3-7. "I'm a one-man kitchen," says Sutton, "and I need some sleep."

Reach Lesa Griffith at lgriffith@honoluluadvertiser.com.