THAT’S ITALIAN!

Once upon a time most of our Italian restaurants served spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. Then America discovered pasta and all that changed. Now gnocchi and garganelli and mostaccioli cavort about our menus, and words such as carpaccio go rolling off our tongues. If you’re anxious to eat some Western spaghetti, here are some fine places to do it.

CARMELO’S (3520 E. Highway, Corona del Mar, (714) 675-1922.) Carmelo’s is a fancy Italian restaurant that does not disdain southern Italian dishes. Tortellini, stuffed with cheese, comes in a rich cream and Parmesan sauce with prosciutto; at the other end of the pasta spectrum is vermicelli alla checca , thin pasta simply tossed in olive oil with basil, garlic and chopped tomatoes. There is good white veal here: saltimbocca is simply veal scallops sauteed in Marsala and topped with fresh sage and prosciutto. Rack of lamb (available sometimes as a special) is already sauteed when black-suited waiters wheel up the table-side cart; they then cut the lamb into tiny chops and flame the sauce. Lunch, Mon.-Fri.; dinner, Mon.-Sun. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $40-$100.

CARMINE’S (10463 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (213) 474-3577.) Located in an unprepossessing little building, Carmine’s is another fancy restaurant--all red-velvet intimacy, corny wrought-iron fixtures, copies of the Italian masters in heavy frames along the walls, and a well-heeled clientele. Despite some weak appetizers, dinners here are splendid: The poached whitefish in its pale, delicate sauce is almost unbelievably fresh, and the veal piccata is among Los Angeles’ finest, perfectly tender in an also perfectly lemony buttery sauce. Dinner nightly. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $50-$70.

CELESTINO RISTORANTE (236 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills (213) 859-8601.) The restaurant is bright and airy, comfortable and uncluttered; best of all, it is an easy place in which to have a conversation. The food is easygoing, too. The warm seafood salad is as good as you’ll get anywhere, and there’s a delightful carpaccio of veal topped with shreds of sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan. There’s never too much sauce on the pasta, and it’s always al dente , always delicious. Entrees are good and simple: There’s a fine veal chop, a tiny roast chicken, and fish is always perfectly cooked. Lunch, Mon.-Fri.; dinner nightly. Reservations. All major credit cards. Beer and wine. Valet parking in evening. Dinner for two: $30-$60.

DUE MILLE (15005 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks (818) 905-8402.) Due Mille is a chic little restaurant with high ceilings, white terra-cotta tiles and mauve leather banquettes. At lunch the sun comes pouring in, and at dinnertime the lighting is refined. At its best, the food at Due Mille has real finesse. A special mostaccioli with a light cream and tomato sauce shot with vodka has it. So does a delicate appetizer of roasted marinated eggplant stuffed with fontina cheese. But several entrees are undistinguished: Broiled veal medallions were ordinary; the baby salmon without character. Lunch, Mon.-Fri.; dinner, Mon.-Sat. Reservations. All major credit cards. Beer and wine. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $35-$65.

IANUZZI RISTORANTE (12400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles (213) 207-4353.) This elegant new restaurant in one of those vast office buildings on Wilshire has an enormous menu, the kind Italian restaurants used to have back in the old days. The service is old-fashioned too--professional, pleasant, absolutely unobtrusive. But the ambiance, with its black walls, black ceilings and profusion of mirrors, is very contemporary and the kitchen is so modern that the Hong Kong-trained chef does much of his cooking in woks. Lunch, Mon.-Fri.; dinner, Mon.-Sat. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two:$60-100.

PRIMI (10543 W. Pico Blvd., W. Los Angeles (213) 475-9235.) This hip, pretty restaurant is a true original. They’ve done away with main courses altogether. Primi serves only primi piatti , those first courses that everybody loves so much. On the regular menu are dishes such as baby quail served with fried polenta, corn crepes filled with asparagus in a mushroom sauce, breast of duckling stuffed with caviar made of chopped olives, and little “purses” of raw beef wrapped around Parmigiano cheese. There is pasta in the shape of daisies, bright with saffron. Hand-rolled black pasta comes topped with salmon caviar, and gnocchi comes in three flavors, three colors. Lunch, Mon.-Sat.; dinner nightly. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $40-$80.

PRONTO (South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa (714) 540-8038.) Tiny and intimate, Pronto is encrusted with beveled mirrors, making it look somewhere between 16 and 64 times its actual size. Several plates contain a surprising touch of Oriental: insalata d’anitra is a sauteed, stir-fried duck, its accompanying vegetables reassuringly European. Ostriche Livorno consists of curried oysters in pureed tomato vinaigrette. (Other dishes, such as the green tagliatelle with veal and cream sauce, are thoroughly Italian.) Lunch and dinner, Mon.-Sat. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Dinner for two: $25-$50.

ROSA IL RISTORANTE ITALIANA (3077 Baldwin Park Blvd., Baldwin Park (818) 960-2788.) The gaudy dining room is designed with romance in mind, filled with crystal chandeliers and lined with tinted mirrors. There are pink, flower-adorned tablecloths and white latticework trellises. Although the gnocchi are featured as an appetizer, don’t be taken in; unless you’ve just run in a marathon, they’re a main course. All the pasta is fresh, and cooked al dente . Virtually everything with tomato is good, as is the ravioli ai porcini , spinach and ricotta ravioli in a porcini mushroom sauce. Lunch, Mon.-Fri.; dinner, Mon.-Sat. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Dinner for two: $60-$85.

SILVIO (8478 Melrose Ave. (213) 651-1842.) Despite fancy cars and Hollywood clientele (until last June, Silvio was Bono, as in “owned by Sonny”) Silvio’s glitz is low-key. Pleasant and airy--with terra-cotta floors, palms and a thatched ceiling--it’s quiet enough for conversation, and tables are private without being isolated. The fare is clean and light--plenty of interesting pastas and fresh fish dishes, summery salads and soups. Among the pasta dishes, the winnner is spaghetti with gorgonzola and tomato sauce. Lunch, Mon.-Sat.; dinner nightly. Reservations. All major credit cards. Full bar. Valet parking. Dinner for two: $35-$60.