When a jogger tells you the restaurant you&rsquo;re looking for is &ldquo;right next to the Dollar General,&rdquo; it&rsquo;s hard to keep your culinary hopes aloft.</p><p>But Bleu Tomato turns out to be a cozy oasis of solid, value-priced food and bohemian decor in De Soto, halfway between Lawrence and Kansas City in western Johnson County. </p><p>The restaurant has vinyl booths that smell like Band-Aids, a friend pointed out, minimalist vinyl-topped metal tables paired with spindle-back chairs and a rustic harvest table. The juxtaposition of styles feels more college town than country, as does the local art displayed on butter-yellow heavily textured walls. And where else in De Soto are you going to run into Lew Perkins on a rainy Thursday evening? I was the only one in our party who recognized the University of Kansas athletic director, but spotting him was reassuring. I bet Perkins knows his restaurants. </p><p>So what if the paper menus have a couple of spelling errors and typos? It fits with the diamond-in-the-rough quality of the food, furnishings and service.</p><p>The silverware is thin and the wine glasses are thick, but I love the BYOB policy. Bleu Tomato serves no alcohol, but servers will uncork your wine and provide glasses with no corkage fee. I&rsquo;d rather bring my own wine and drink it out of a heavy glass than pay $50 for a bottle and sip from paper-thin crystal. </p><p>If you normally order two bottles of wine for a party of four, the savings on the markup and tip (you should still tip 20 percent on the bottle price) is considerable.</p><p>Of one large party that had brought in Veuve Clicquot and several other pricey wines, my husband remarked, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re basically eating for free.&rdquo;</p><p>Our waiter, David, was not polished but he was attentive and kind. That gets you a long way in my book. What he didn&rsquo;t know he quickly found out, and when he noticed we were sampling each other&rsquo;s food, he began bringing extra appetizer plates with each course. I hope we get him the next time we go.</p><p>The food was uneven, but each course brought a jewel that stood out. Among the appetizers, which range in price from $8 to $11, the baked shrimp purses were sumptuous in taste and appearance. Tiger shrimp were wrapped in phyllo, served with an herbed cream sauce studded with fresh tomatoes and garnished with crossed spikes of green onion. The dish looked as if it had jumped straight off the cover of Gourmet magazine (R.I.P.).</p><p>The lump crab cakes were just OK, not overly bready but dry. They were served with a roasted red pepper aioli that had a lot of heat. I&rsquo;m all in favor of heat, but not when it masks delicate flavors such as crab. I&rsquo;d love that aioli on garlic toast or roasted eggplant.</p><p>The roasted red pepper hummus appetizer, served with toasted rosemary flatbread, was delish, as were the pan-seared sea scallops served on pureed savory sweet potatoes. The scallops were traditional size (as wide as a nickel), which I&rsquo;ve always found more succulent than palm-sized diver scallops.</p><p>As for the entrees, the butternut and pumpkin stuffed ravioli in a brown butter sage vermouth sauce was my favorite, hands-down, though the friend who ordered them found them too sweet. I thought the vermouth sauce cut the sweetness of the ravioli filling.</p><p>I liked another ravioli even better, this one a side dish: the goat cheese, arugula and walnut variety that came as an accompaniment to the herbed parmesan encrusted salmon. The salmon looked promising &mdash; low to the plate and deep orange, which tends to signal wild caught as opposed to the tall pink farmed stuff. But it turned out to be quite dry and lacking in flavor. The roasted beef filet and pork medallions entrees were both cooked properly to order but were dry also. I wasn&rsquo;t expecting that, having heard that chef/owner Karen Mitchell buys produce from Crum&rsquo;s Heirlooms in Bonner Springs and Zimmerman&rsquo;s Kill Creek Farm in De Soto. The vegetables were top-drawer, but the meats are the weak link that could be improved.