Some things in Tucson are a given. In the summer, it will be blisteringly hot. Coach Lute Olson's hair will never look out of place. And if restaurateur Sam Fox opens a new joint, it will be good. Very good.

Fox Restaurant Concepts — which owns Bistro Zin, North, Wildflower and Sauce locally — has added yet another winner. This one's called Montana Avenue.

Like other Fox restaurants, the eatery sports that chic, big-city look. The menu is sophisticated but unintimidating — and even playful. Which explains the $8 doughnut on the dessert menu. More on that later.

With its high ceilings and minimalist décor — plain white vases sprouting three slender blades of bear grass grace the tables — Montana Avenue oozes the peaceful calm of a ski lodge gone Zen.

Pale blond wood mixes with black accents. Rustic pillars studded with black metal plates ring the open floor plan. You'll see Asian influences such as salt and pepper cradled on small yin-yang plates, with a teensy spoon for scooping.

Clint Woods, corporate chef for Fox Restaurants, has created a menu anchored around duded-up comfort food that's studded with flashes of the exotic.

The onion rings ($7) — that old bar standard — go uptown with wide rings of sweet onion dunked in a feather-light batter. Dip them in a complex barbecue sauce that tastes faintly honeyish with a jalapeño kick, or choose the subtle bleu-cheese-buttermilk dressing lightened with cucumber.

The baby spinach salad ($8) fell flat despite a tempting melange of sweet julienned apple, smoky bacon, Parmesan shavings and nuts. Chopped almonds and pistachios hovered on the verge of over-toasted bitterness. For all the promising flavors, it tasted bland.

Not so the spicy tuna ($13). The impressive-looking tower started with a base of raw ahi chunks slathered in a creamy sauce that stings, courtesy of sriracha, a chile paste. A topping of crab, alongside sweet mango and threads of crisp sea greens, makes for a delightful mix of flavors and textures.

Montana Avenue isn't stingy with high-ticket ingredients — the crab-stuffed chiles ($17) are filled end to stem with crab and flecked with black beans. But the crustacean's delicate flavor gets lost under the spicy chile wrapping and the egg batter punched with ancho chile powder and cayenne.

Woods' take on fried chicken, the ultimate comfort food, is buttermilk chicken ($15). Tender breasts are pan-seared to delicate crispness and surrounded with diced chayote sweetened with a honey- and red-wine-vinegar glaze. What could be more comforting than that?

Perhaps the risotto ($17). It shows the same careful attention to complementary tastes and textures as the tuna tower, with creamy rice, chicken sausage, apple and hints of port wine and musky, fresh sage.

But it's the Kobe skirt steak ($27) that's truly obsession-worthy. This dish could make a vegetarian switch teams.

As you'd expect from Kobe beef, it's beyond tender and buttery. Young green beans that snap and a sautéed medley of mushrooms top the meat; the world's most perfect sauce bathes the whole shebang. Slightly thicker than a pan sauce, it's heavy with the taste of good butter and meaty oyster, enoki, shiitake and chanterelle mushrooms. There's a perfect interplay between sweet and salty.

It would be a crime to leave any drop of sauce on the plate, which is why we must confess to boosting the teensy spoon from the salt and pepper plate and scraping up every last dribble.

Desserts at Montana Avenue ($8) mark a departure for Fox's queen of confections, Karen "Spike" Ames, who's known for her elaborate concoctions. Here, the diva of decadence whips together homespun treats such as individual Granny Smith apple cobblers in cast-iron skillets. Served warm from the oven, the apples melt in your mouth, while the black walnut crumble topping is crunchy and plentiful. Just when you think it can't get any better, you dig a spoon into the soft, vanilla-bean-flecked ice cream. Heaven.

And then there's that doughnut.

You're probably thinking — an $8 doughnut? Remember, this is a Fox venture. Have faith. This big baby comes warm from the oven, dusted with cinnamon and sugar. The crunch of the outside gives way to a soft, pleasantly dense middle. Here's the punch: Dunk that doughnut chunk into the accompanying vanilla custard with a puddle of sweet berries in the center. It's like the best inside-out custard doughnut ever made. Plus, it comes with the hole.

Yes, it's good to know there are some things you can definitely count on.

Montana Avenue

6390 E. Grant Road, near Wilmot Road, 298-2020

Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 5-9:30 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5-10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sundays for brunch

Wine list: An extensive list of reasonably priced, mostly domestic wines

Family call: Seems more of a grown-ups'-night-out kind of place.

Noise level: On the loud side

Vegetarian choices: A few

Smoking: No

Dress: Tucson casual

Reservations: Accepted