RESTAURANT REVIEW GIOVANNI’S CAFE : Abundant Service : An Italian restaurant that makes outstanding pasta and knows how to cover for its mistakes.

One thing that distinguishes Giovanni Tromba restaurants--he’s perhaps Ventura County’s most active contemporary eatery operator--is the quality of the service. Tromba’s people seem to do a special job of binding the waiters and the kitchen together to give us just what we want, whether it is on the menu or not.

Restaurant pieces that start off talking about the service are usually just trying to soften the blow that comes a little later, when the reviewer tells you that the food isn’t much good.

But that’s not the case at Giovanni’s Cafe, a white-tableclothed, newish Italian operation at the Clocktower Inn in the refurbished downtown area of Ventura.

The cafe is one of three county restaurants with which Tromba is associated. Each, in its way, is a spinoff of his best-known Giovanni’s Restaurant in Camarillo, which has been operating since 1983.

At the cafe, where Tromba’s partner is Akram Kordat, some of the dishes are outstanding. And the service is almost gracious enough to make up for some of the just so-so food.

The calamari fritti appetizer--deep-fried squid in a quantity large enough to be a main dish--is the best I’ve eaten this side of Rio de Janeiro. It’s fried and seasoned tenderly, with just the right flavors. I could eat two plates of this and nothing else.

The marinated veal chop, which tastes of white wine, fresh herbs and garlic, was very fatty one night. But late in the meal we mentioned this to our waiter, who asked if we wanted something in its place. When we said we did not, he adjusted the bill without being asked.

One evening’s special--the brodetto --is much like cioppino . The chef avoided the usual problems of that dish by cooking each piece of seafood for the appropriate amount of time. The clams, shrimp and mussels added to the liquid produced a simple, subtle broth. That cannot be said for the little neck clam appetizer, in what they call a garlic sauce but which seemed to be more of a broth. It was simply too salty. Also on the appetizer list is the insalata tre colore , a salad of mixed greens with provolone, mortadella and white beans in a vinaigrette dressing. The cold white beans dominate and make it a uniquely satisfying dish for bean lovers.

Pasta at Giovanni’s Cafe can be outstanding. The rigatoni quattro formaggi , a short tube pasta with four cheeses in a cream sauce, is one example. The kitchen is perfectly willing to mix any of the pastas with any of the pasta sauces, which is how we came to enjoy the fusilli Bolognese, a tomato herb sauce with veal, mushrooms and garlic, with a linguine instead of the corkscrew pasta listed on the menu. A fresh and tangy dish.

One the breads is made on the premises--a heart-shaped, wonderfully rich piece of focaccia, full of olive oil and garlic--was hard to stop eating and one of the best in the county. Pastries, the Zuppa Inglesa , for example, don’t come close to this standard. But the ice creams--made at the Camarillo location--are as good as you’d expect a homemade ice cream to be, especially the tartuffo version, covered with dark chocolate.

Among the attractive features are the outdoor patio tables, and I don’t suppose the full bar hurts--although limiting the bar to three stools certainly keeps the area from getting crowded.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Giovanni’s Cafe, 185 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura, (805) 648-1426. Open for lunch Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for dinner Tuesday through Saturday 5 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 4 to 9 p.m. Major credit cards and reservations accepted. Full bar. Lunch for two, food only, $15-$40. Dinner for two, food only, $34-$56. Recommended dishes, calamari fritti , $6.50; rigatoni quattro formaggi , $10.50.