AFTER POOR FIRST TRY, LIDO GETS GOOD

I liked Lido, a Northern Italian restaurant in the Pacific Palisades, at first sight. It is a clean, stylish restaurant with a handwritten menu listing all sorts of potentially delicious dishes (risotto with porcini mushrooms, Bresaola with arugula salad, baked veal shanks, gnocchi with gorgonzola cheese, tirami su . . . .) My anticipation rose as I saw that, even at midweek it was bubbling with exuberant clientele. Unfortunately this turned out to be a disappointing first date.

True, we did ask to change tables once we were seated. (Well, would you have liked your conversation drowned out by a patron, two tables away, shouting out the minute details of his trip to Arrowhead to someone he knew at the next table?) Once seated on the patio in front, we were ignored for 15 minutes--no menus, no bread. It took another 45 minutes to be served a green salad and prosciutto and melon, 20 minutes more till the risotto with porcini arrived (and, it, a soupy mess). Another 35 minutes went by until we were served the main course. Had I not been eating in the line of duty, I would have simply picked myself up, paid the check and left.

But, as we did stay, let me report: Grilled salmon was overcooked and served with lukewarm white beans. The veal shank, thinly sliced and coated with a puree of carrots, onions and potatoes was homey, tender, salty--and unceremoniously dumped onto the plate. (Remember the papier-mache food Claes Oldenburg made for his artwork “The Store?” The food at Lido had that ragged drippy look that night.) The fresh spinach and roast potatoes were great. We picked at the child-sweet strawberry whipped cream pie with a fine crust and asked three times before we got the check.

End-of-meal dinner conversation, verbatim: (Apologetically) “Want to come back with me some night next week?”

(Brightly) “Uh, sorry, I think I have to go to a funeral.”

But I did go back, and the second visit turned my mind around. My companions and I had a simple, satisfying meal. Yes, we had to wait 20 minutes for a table (with a reservation) but the host offered us glasses of champagne. Fresh cubed tomatoes with basil and olive oil and good bread were served the second we sat down. Our waiter was attentive and whispered: “It’s never this crowded on Tuesday nights.” We pointed to the langoustines on the next table. “We’re sold out. But we have bronzino tonight.”

“That’s the new hip fish,” the hippest friend at the table said.

But first the appetizers: each fresh, direct, stylish. Delicious too. The Bresaola, air-dried beef, was lean and shiny under a heap of torn arugula. The hot seafood salad offering one gorgeous mussel, one splendid oyster, a mass of tender calamari and shrimp sauteed with lemon and olive oil. A salad of shrimp and potatoes was straightforward with lemon and olive oil too.

Gnocchi with gorgonzola was so soft it simply melted in your mouth. Rigatoni alla Bolognese had a sauce so well married it might be an antidote to divorce. (“This is Italy,” one friend cried.) Swordfish was thin, juicy and crisp. Scampi “Portofino” was actually a mix of medium-size shrimp and some remaining langoustines that were so soft they seemed to be melting along the edges, swirled with garlic, little cubed tomatoes and basil. “I think they’ve run out of vegetables,” the hip friend said, “these tomatoes are everywhere tonight.” Yes, they were also on the plate of bronzino . A kind of fluffy Mediterranean sea bass, the fish tasted--not unpleasantly--of sea water and fresh green grass. And this time the lovely white beans were served hot.

Well, the overflowing Tuesday night crowd had eaten its way through all those gorgeous dark desserts that we’d seen on the cart. One sad piece of dry Italian cheese cake remained. So we picked off the pine nuts, drank superb espresso and finished the wine.

Not gold exactly--but definitely a good time.

Ristorante Lido, 15200 Sunset Blvd., Suite 106, Pacific Palisades ; (213) 459-9214. Open for lunch Tuesday-Friday; for dinner Tuesday-Sunday. Beer and wine. Street parking. All major credit cards. Dinner for two (food only): $38-$75.