RESTAURANT REVIEW : A Bit of the Cafe Life at Piazza Rodeo

Every mini-mall has its eating establishments, and Via Rodeo in Beverly Hills is no exception. Among the hyper-upscale retail shops of this Parisian rue look-alike--actually, it’s more like a Euro-Disney Main Street--there is Stringfellows, the expensive and extravagantly hip restaurant and nightclub, and for more casual cafe-goers, Piazza Rodeo, opened by film producer Meshulam Riklis, husband of Pia Zadora.

Many of Piazza Rodeo’s tiny marble cafe tables are clustered on a balcony. Inside, there are more tables, dark wood and a gleaming bar. The waiters wear long aprons. A single fuzzy pink cockscomb blossom sat in a glass vase on our table, a balcony table with a view of Wilshire Boulevard and the grand Beverly Wilshire Hotel. It’s easy to imagine that one is in Europe--a hygienic, idealized version purged of history, of course.

As in a European cafe, the tables are packed close together, so close that every visit here involves at least some interaction with one’s neighbors. On my first visit, two attractive, fortyish women sat right behind us. Even in their casual wear, they looked quite dressed up--and painstakingly made up too. They had only been seated a moment when one of them said, “Excuse me,” in such a scolding way that my friend and I were both plunged into guilt. Certain we were somehow offending them, we turned around. They waved gaily at us. “No, no, not you ,” they said and waved in the direction of the waiter. “ Excuse me ,” they called louder.

“Excuse me,” they cried when they wanted their food. “Excuse me,” again when they had a question about an ingredient, when they wanted more bread, another glass of wine, water, the bill, the change, a bit more coffee.

Meanwhile, we found the service prompt, attentive and, in this case, heroically good-natured. On a Saturday night, however, when there were more customers, both the staff and the kitchen were a little slow, which made it all the more true to European cafe life.

Piazza Rodeo serves cafe food: mostly salads, sandwiches and just a few entrees.

The appetizers were unexciting. Rounds of grilled eggplant topped with chopped tomatoes and smoked mozzarella, reminded me of dishes my mother would assemble from Sunset magazine recipes back in the days when herbs and melted cheese were the standard prescription for flavor.

A Caprese salad came with good little balls of bufala mozzarella poised on fresh basil leaves and Roma tomatoes. The Romas, never the best slicing tomatoes, were mushy and tasteless. A Caesar salad was more satisfying.

The sandwiches were huge and came with a choice of French fries or a green salad, although to my mind there’s no choice: the French fries were downright paradigmatic.

A huge, juicy hamburger was subverted by too many herbs mixed into the meat. A small, nicely cooked red snapper filet dressed with caper mayonnaise was a bit overwhelmed by its huge square roll.

Pastas seem to strive for high marks in creativity and individuality. The only problem with the ravioli--dressed with butter and good, bitter radicchio--was that the portion was disappointingly small. Blandness, not portion size, was the issue with a huge heap of red-pepper fettuccine in a pesto cream sauce with several sweet shrimp. Salt helped.

A respectable Alaskan salmon steak was served with mussel-radicchio risotto that had a strong, briny flavor. A breaded and sauteed chicken breast was heavily cloaked in marinara sauce and melted smoked mozzarella.

All told, while the food is all right and certainly moderate in price, it might not be the main attraction at Piazza Rodeo. Sitting outside on a warm fall night, with hot-weather lightning flashing and live piano music drifting over from Stringfellows, we were too content to be overly concerned about what was on our plates. Nor were we concerned when the lightning grew more intense and a few random raindrops hit.

“This is one of the most romantic places I’ve been in L.A.,” said my friend. We couldn’t help but notice, however, that our neighbor was not so euphoric. A single diner, who’d brought his cellular phone to dinner, he was right on the verge of fleeing. The waiter promptly began to pitch an umbrella over his table. “Great,” said the man, “Now, what are you going to do for the lightning?”

Piazza Rodeo, 208 Via Rodeo, Beverly Hills, (213) 275-2428. Open seven days for breakfast, lunch and dinner. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Beer and wine. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $25-$56.