Bella Via in Encinitas : New Chef Puts His Reputation Into Traditional Italian Fare

Not so very long ago, the men who wore the tall chef’s toques in the kitchens of large establishments usually were no better known to the guests in the dining room than were the fellows who scrubbed the pots.

The major exception to this rule was in the grand houses ruled by chef-proprietors, who, especially in France, enjoyed and continue to enjoy the stature of movie stars and other types of artists. But, in other situations, restaurants took their personalities from the proprietors, who set a tone and saw to it that whoever was in charge of the kitchen followed it without the slightest deviation. These people understood cooking, of course, but preferred not to practice it, leaving what is essentially technical work to others.

There are such proprietors today, but the cult of personality has invaded the nation’s kitchens as it has many other fields, so that the names and personalities of the men--and, in increasing numbers, women--who cash the chef’s paychecks now have much influence on the fortunes of many ambitious restaurants.

A new chef’s previous association with a well-known spot naturally does much to enhance the restaurant’s reputation, for exactly the same reason that Wall Street law firms prefer to recruit graduates of Harvard Law School over alumni of Smoky Corners U.

A Different Menu

Thus it came to pass that Bella Via, the North County Italian restaurant well-known for its live jazz, sent out notices in late April announcing the installation in the kitchen of John Bennett, former sous chef at La Jolla’s highly regarded George’s at the Cove. The event coincided with Bella Via’s second anniversary, and seemed a felicitous moment for a place that in its early days served a rather so-so brand of cooking.

Bennett is faced with quite a different menu at this Cardiff Restaurant Row location than he cooked at George’s, a loyal and leading light of the California cuisine movement that makes much of seafood and is always willing to go to extremes in the search for new and intriguing flavor combinations. The Bella Via menu steers a fairly classic Italian course, featuring a lengthy selection of largely familiar pastas and seafood, chicken and veal preparations.

The very length of this menu must be quite a challenge, and, in truth, a shorter list accompanied by an expanded selection of daily specials would be preferable. Bennett by and large rises to the occasion, however, preparing most dishes competently and sometimes seasoning them with a bit of the flair that typifies the cooking at his former place of work.

The appetizer list tends to be luxurious rather than imaginative, and features such dishes as prosciutto and melon, carpaccio (thinly sliced and highly seasoned raw filet mignon), and a combination of mussels and clams simmered in tomato sauce. The piatto freddo , or cold appetizer plate, is an antipasto selection that goes heavy on the meat and cheese--salami, prosciutto, mortadella and provolone--while ignoring the whole black and green olives and piquant pepperoncini peppers that typically garnish such selections. The most pleasing starter may be the appetizer-sized serving of eggplant parmigiana, done forthrightly and well; like the piatto freddo , it serves two quite nicely.

Entrees include the usual choice of soup or salad, and either can be chosen with confidence. The salad actually is a somewhat modified Caesar, with cucumber and other vegetables tossed in for variety, but seasoned with a good dose of Parmesan and anchovy to bring out the pungency of the romaine. The tortellini in brodo , or stuffed pasta in chicken stock, follows the classic format that relies on a good, strong broth for its quality, and met the test on one recent visit. Even better, and a welcome deviation from Bella Via’s Italian line, was a creamy shrimp bisque of intense flavor and perfect texture, its shrimpy essence amplified by the traditional and honorable jolt of brandy added at the last moment.

The pastas appear under three headings: baked, those made with egg dough, and the eggless variety that in Naples goes under the generic title of macaroni (for example, linguine, spaghetti and rigatoni). The pasta selection takes its most daring turn with the tortellini alla vodka, or home made, stuffed spinach dumplings finished with reduced cream, tomatoes and a healthy sprinkling of crisp, savory, Italian-style bacon. The vodka enters the dish rather anonymously--it is, after all, flavorless in its basic form--and seems present mostly for its mystique; often this dish contains a fair amount of red pepper, a seasoning with which Bennett dispensed.

The kitchen also turned out a satisfactory version of fettuccine alla carbonara , the Roman favorite that usually requires raw eggs in its preparation; since the eggs are primarily present to provide a creamy consistency, the kitchen did away with the middleman and substituted cream. Crisp bacon again flavored the noodles, which also supported a burden of tiny peas and sauteed mushrooms.

Some of the other more interesting pasta dishes would be the black fettuccine with salmon, shrimp, caviar and asparagus in a brandied cream; the Abruzzi-style lasagna, which includes sausage and white sauce along with ground beef, mozzarella cheese and tomato; the rigatoni baked with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses under a layer of meat sauce, and the linguine sauced with mussels, shrimp, clams and chopped fresh tomatoes.

Traditional Treatments

The fish selections change with the day, and tend to be done quite simply. A slab of fresh yellowtail responded happily to a quick grilling that gave it a fine, crusty finish; in keeping with the Italian penchant for giving fish just a tiny assist, this one received a dab of lemon-herb butter that suited it very well.

The veal list displays a great familiarity with preparations popular at other Italian restaurants and shows some imagination by expanding on these traditional treatments. The scaloppine prepared piccata-style, for example, are garnished with mushrooms, herbs and pine nuts in addition to the usual lemon butter. (If veal does not suit, a chicken breast can be had prepared in exactly the same fashion.) However, the more traditional scaloppine alla pizzaiola , which calls for a quickly cooked tomato sauce flavored with garlic, capers and oregano, came off quite poorly. It needed more of every seasoning, and further reduction; the plate was flooded by what was essentially tomato juice.

Outside bakers cater the desserts, and these generally make a less satisfying conclusion than a cup of the strong, bitter cappucino.

BELLA VIA

2591 Old Highway 101, Encinitas

942-1108

Dinner nightly

Credit cards accepted

Dinner for two, with a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $35 to $60.