DAVID NELSON / ON RESTAURANTS : Pernicano’s Goes Uptown, Literally and Figuratively

George Pernicano, colorful owner of the celebrated baffi --Italian for mustache--and for decades proprietor of the now-closed but once equally celebrated Pernicano’s Casa di Baffi in Hillcrest, has been quoted as saying that San Diego did not know pizza until he introduced it in 1946.

The pie has become ubiquitous since then, of course, and so have the Pernicano’s restaurants, all owned by family members, that serve numerous neighborhoods in the city. The opening of the newest Pernicano’s, in Hillcrest’s sleek new Uptown District, marks a return to the seat of the family fortune.

If San Diego suffered an absolute dearth of pizzerias until the immediate postwar period, it incontrovertibly had not the faintest notion of the existence of sun-dried tomatoes. This new and terribly chi-chi ingredient--an acute shortage of which might provoke every trendy restaurant in the state to close--actually crops up on the menu at the new Pernicano’s. It is offered as a topping, along with basil and ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, for one of the gourmet pizzas, items that in themselves would have seemed an affectation in the heyday of Casa di Baffi.

The times they have a-changed, we may gratefully note, and the gourmet pizzas at Pernicano’s have the distinction of being individually sized and handsomely composed. To include on the gourmet list the Margherita, the classic that in Naples defines pizza (at Pernicano’s the topping consists of tomatoes, oregano, basil, olive oil, garlic and mozzarella) seems to bring the pizzafication of San Diego full circle.

The pizza at Pernicano’s remains the “Handlebar,” a respectably traditional pie that augments the basic tomato sauce and cheese topping with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and onions. This is a solid, serious pie, based on fine crust that at the raised edges--the best part, but also the part that so many folks push aside because of its topping-less nudity--has a rich, almost pastry-like texture. This crust is a good advertisement for the restaurant’s chief dough engineer.

Although pizza (decorated with choices from a list that includes all the usuals, as well as turkey and pineapple) remains a major attraction, certain bonds to the past seem to have been broken in the return to the old neighborhood. The menu has a contemporary, sophisticated look that goes with the location, expressed most notably by a list of very well-prepared pastas. The winner in this grouping probably is the tortellini quattro formaggi , or pasta dumplings stuffed with minced chicken and prosciutto and doused in a grand white sauce flavored with four cheeses. This is a rich and delicious dish.

The white sauce reappears--fleshed out with freshly steamed vegetables--in the fettuccine primavera , but many of the other pastas head to tomatoes, both fresh and long-simmered. This group includes spaghetti marinara with a very light, well-handled sauce, and the capellini pomodori , the beneficiary of a very flavorful fresh tomato sauce. The menu also offers pastas in what it describes as a “creamy” pesto, and linguine with chicken breast, roasted peppers and olive oil.

Meals include a trip to the respectably stocked soup and salad bar, to which the a la carte antipasto plate, priced at $5.25, makes a good alternative for two or three diners. As an amusing conceit, the plate takes the form of a lettuce pizza, the shredded greenery dotted with a regular pattern of salami, pepperoni, provolone, pepperoncini, tomatoes and fruity brown olives. Rather too much red vinegar moistens the lettuce, while grated Parmesan decorates the toppings; all in all, this is a refreshing presentation.

The short entree list keeps more closely to tradition, and offers as its chief specialty a roasted chicken sauced with its own juices. The “Swiss” chicken offers a breaded breast topped with Swiss cheese, avocado, tomato and cream sauce; veal is available in the same fashion, and the inclusion of avocado is an interesting localism. The other choices are chicken or veal parmigiana, and calamari venezia , or breaded squid steak in a pan sauce of butter, wine, lemon juice and garlic.

Despite the sun-dried tomatoes, the new Pernicano’s has not forgotten the old days, as noted by an offering of a side dish of meatballs on a short list of small plates that also offers a cold-cut torpedo and a sandwich of sausage and roasted peppers. The dessert tray does not overflow with choices, but the homemade cannoli has its merits, notably a cream filling that has an elastic, custardy texture and a delicious flavoring of cinnamon and chocolate bits.

The service on two recent visits was friendly if erratic, which, for better or worse, brought an “old neighborhood” tone to a place that has gone uptown figuratively while making a literal transition to Uptown. The restaurant is surprisingly small, and simply but attractively decorated in shades of green and white. Verdi orchestrations dominate the sound system, and it can be a delight to listen to “La donne e mobile” while watching one’s guest execute ballet-like maneuvers with a pregnant-looking slice of pizza.

Pernicano’s

The Uptown District, Hillcrest

574-0255

Lunch and dinner daily

Entrees $4.75 to $12.50 Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $20 to $45

Credit cards accepted