RESTAURANT REVIEW : Creativity of La Loggia Chef a Tasty Surprise

Hey, wait a second. If this is supposed to be an Italian restaurant, how come all the waiters are speaking Spanish?

I found out the hard way, bantering with co-owner Frank Leon about geography in the Italian wine country when I couldn’t get the bottle of wine I was looking for. (In the end I found it, a wonderful wine called Ardanti Montefalco for only $23.) It seems that the man is a transplanted Madrileno by way of Costa Rica, and much of his staff comes from his native Spain.

When it comes to food, though, this man definitely has it covered. La Loggia, after having had a few years to settle in, may just be the San Fernando Valley’s best Italian restaurant.

It’s full of conceptual art and features a distinctly Valley-type crowd, not to mention a decibel level that borders on the ear-splitting. Everyone--many of them industry types mugging for attention--crams into the smallish chairs at the smallish tables covered with white cloths. And everyone sits within sniffing distance of the open kitchen, where chef Karla Binder prepares her somewhat conceptual foods. I’d rather put my attention on the kitchen, thank you.

Binder’s sheer creativity came as somewhat of a surprise. I was thinking routine when I got the complimentary bruschetta of toasted bread topped with big chunks of tomato and perfumed olive oil, but one glance at Binder’s menu changed my mind. There are many dishes at La Loggia that you are unlikely to have seen before, no mean feat in a trendy Italian restaurant these days. And do you know what? They all taste pretty good.

Take fagioli bianco e anitra affumicata , where tiny white beans are served on radicchio with smoked duckling. This is a fantasy appetizer, loaded with chunks of smoke-flavored duck and good lettuces, set off nicely by a lightly flavored mustard vinaigrette. A beanless minestrone looks ordinary, but isn’t. It’s filled with chunks of potato and celery and tastes like something you’d get at a hip farmhouse.

Insalata “la loggia” is assorted lettuces with marinated vegetables and toasted pine nuts. Excellent crab cakes come in a trio, sauteed with a spicy tomato sauce and nicely crisped. And these are just antipasti.

When you get to the pastas, there are some real finds. Where have you ever seen a dish like gnocchi di caroti , for example--carrot and ricotta dumplings in yellow bell pepper sauce? The dumplings are minuscule and pale orange, the size and shape of segments from a Tootsie Roll, and they melt in the mouth. A buttery yellow pepper sauce blends in quietly.

And who else serves a dish like chicken lasagna? It’s a multilayered square laden with a spinach and ricotta mixture, lots of steamed chicken and shredded onion, all with tender, homemade noodles you won’t leave a bit of.

There are good alternatives, too, such as fettuccine with porcini mushrooms, duck ravioli served in a creamy stock and wonderful linguine with shrimp, fresh asparagus and garlic--an inspired creation. You almost have to strain to find a cliche on this menu.

When it comes to main courses, though, things are somewhat less interesting. Almost no one in the dining room was eating these dishes on a crowded Friday evening, and I often wonder if anyone orders them in Italian restaurants these days.

I only tried two. Neither one impressed me as much as the smaller plates. Binder, it seems, is big on sage--too big, perhaps. Order a dish like grilled lamb loin, and you see pieces of fresh sage floating around in the sauce. You don’t need the visual to warn you that it’s hard to taste much else in this dish.

The fresh poached salmon in ginger sauce was better, although somehow more Japanese than Italian. The Valley is into Japanese, anyway.

I can’t say the desserts are original, either. When I eat my 100th tiramisu (and I’m only within two or three), I’ll search my notes for one that really stood above the pack. This one doesn’t. There is a tiresome chocolate layer cake and a slightly better than average fruit tart, but if you really want to enjoy dessert here, go back to the appetizer list for piatto di formaggio e frutto.

It’s a big plate of Gorgonzola, fontina and cacciotta cheeses, and it’s the perfect match for the heady Italian red wines you’ll find here. Besides, it’s what real Italians eat for dessert, anyway. No es verdad?

Suggested dishes: fagioli bianco e anitra affumicata , $8.25; linguine ai asparagi e gamberetti , $11.25; lasagna al pollo , $11.75; piatto di formaggio e frutto , $8.25.

La Loggia, 11814 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 985-9222. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, dinner 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 5:30 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Full bar. All major credite cards. Valet parking only. Dinner for two, food only, $40 to $65.