Mario’s Poultry Specials for His Friends

Question: What do you do about a take-out place that subliminally begs you to stay? Answer: You sit down at the one big communal table plunked down in the center of the floor and tuck into your thick juicy eggplant and fresh mozzarella sandwich made on homemade foccaccia. And when you stop grinning like a fool, you go straight to the counter for more grilled, roasted and marinated pleasures.

Both the mood and the food at Mario’s, Cooking for Friends, a new Italian delicatessen/rotisserie (and soon-to-be bakery and cafe) are social, earthy and uncontrived. That’s the ethos of owner Mario Martinoli, who calls himself “a cook, not a restaurateur.”

There are lots of new friends piling in the door here, buying up the roasted chicken with fresh sage, roasted rabbit with rosemary, pasta salads and particularly the garlicky marinated grilled eggplant. (I’ve been here twice when they’ve run so short of the eggplant they had to stop selling it by the pound so they’d have enough for sandwiches.)

There is always a daily-special poultry turning golden on the rotisserie, ranging from $3.37 to $3.96 per pound. I’ve found the birds beautifully fragrant with herbs, crisp-skinned and moist. It will probably take some time before Mario’s figures out portion control. So at the moment, if you arrive late in the day prepare to move on to Plan B, since your Plan A may be gone.

Besides the rotisseried delights and the eggplant, here’s what I’d go back for: the braised fennel, marinated cauliflower, wonderful sandwiches and singer Laura Nyro’s favorite food: the tuna fish. (You’ll also find excellent cheeses, cured meats, Il Fornaio breads and the requisite olive oils, boxed pastas and imported tinned things.)

The fennel ($4.69 per pound) is golden brown with a flavor somewhere between licorice and caramelized onion. I dutifully tried the dull-looking marinated cauliflower ($3.65) and was pleased to find it had an unusually delicious (think “essence of grilled cauliflower”) flavor.

Sandwiches--all multilayered affairs built on freshly baked foccaccia-- range from $3.95 (for the eggplant and mozzarella or tomatoes, mozzarella and basil) to $8.95 for a full-bodied bresaola with greens. Some come festooned with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers; they all come with the antipasto of your choice.

The tuna salad is not your usual celery and mayo number. Mario’s version, at $5.90 per pound, comes lightly marinated and mixed with tiny bits of onion and hard-boiled egg whites. It’s fine sandwich material.

The spinach and mozzarella calzone , often available, would also make a handsome lunch. Of the several pasta salads I tried, only the pasta muffalata, with bits of cured meats and smoked chicken, was dressed with some spunk. The others (a pasta patata , a pasta di mare ) were filled with numerous good-looking items that combined to form a single uninspired note.

Mixed marinated vegetables, gardinera ($3.65 per pound), are vividly colored, crisp and sharply vinegared. They taste like the ones found in giant jars in old Italian delicatessens. Too, the minestrone soup ($2.75 for a large portion) tastes more like an old-fashioned variant: It’s a deep-dark broth filled with escarole, cabbage and zucchini.

Many of the salads are exceedingly simple, like the new potatoes ($2.85 per pound) that come with a touch of parsley and a hint of olive oil and the carrots ($2.25 per pound), which are treated basically the same way with a bit of garlic tossed in. You’ll also find a straightforward mozzarella caprese , nicely marinated whole mushrooms ($4.20 per pound) and tomatoes with fresh basil or oregano.

When the bakery really gets going, there will be numerous Italian specialties. At the moment, Mario’s makes a well-flavored apple pie, a substantial crumb cake and a packed-to-the-brim pecan pie with an exceedingly short crust.

There are several outdoor tables at which to eat. But as the crowd of friends swells, you may find that you can’t get a seat. In that case, remember that this is basically a take-out place.

Mario’s, Cooking for Friends, 7475 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; (213) 931-6342. Open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. American Express accepted. Parking in lot.