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RESTAURANT REVIEW FABRIZIO’S MAMMA DORA : Mamma Mia : The owner of Fabrizio’s Ristorante also runs this similar establishment, where seafood is the specialty and service is uneven.

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

A menu came in my mail a few weeks ago. It was from Fabrizio’s Mamma Dora in Camarillo, and the attached note from one Giuseppe Verdino (I think) proclaimed that at this restaurant, “the food is outstanding and so is the service. Best restaurant in the county!”

I still don’t know whether Giuseppe is a good friend of the owner, a helpful relative, or just someone who enjoys food. But those are strong statements. I investigated.

Fabrizio turned out to be Fabrizio Marangoni, and I had done a piece on his newer restaurant, Ristorante Fabrizio in Westlake Village, about a year ago. It seems he’s been operating Mamma Dora for several years now. Back in Florence, Italy, his family has been in the restaurant business for more than 65 years.

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The Camarillo restaurant is a comfortable room with a high, deep blue ceiling, softened with dozens of colorful flags from various Italian locales. On the walls hang shelves laden with wine. The cuisine of the Westlake Village and Camarillo restaurants is very much the same, a sort of trattoria theme with an emphasis on the Tuscany style of cooking.

The Mamma Dora house special, the Mamma Mia ($14.95), is a hearty, full-of-seafood dish that might be Fabrizio’s trademark. Mixed into a bed of linguine, it includes New Zealand mussels, Italian salciccia, shrimp, baby clams, calamari, chicken and some fish, done with lots of garlic, parsley, red wine and spices. The secret to this sort of dish is to make certain the different types of seafood, each needing a different cooking time, are done just right. By the time I got the dish one evening it had become a case of almost-but-not-quite. The shrimp were overdone. Otherwise, it was a wonderful dish.

Mamma Dora’s calls its prawn dish Scampi Positano ($13.95). At Westlake Village they call it shrimp a la Moutarde, but it seems to be the same thing: prawns in a sauce flavored with Dijon mustard, garlic and vodka. This time, the prawns were cooked just enough. It’s worth trying.

On the appetizer menu at dinner one evening there was a difference of opinion between a Critical Companion and myself. I thought that the Lumache della Nona ($6.95), escargot with butter, garlic and Gorgonzola cheese, was way too salty because of the cheese. The Companion disagreed. We both agreed that the carpaccio al radicchio ($6.95), with its capers and Dijon sauce, was worth ordering.

So is the Caesar salad ($4.50), with crisp romaine and just enough subtlety in the anchovy taste of the dressing.

On another day, the vitello al limone ($7.95 lunch), which is on the Cucina Spa menu (low in fat, cholesterol, calories and sodium), was as simply done as that dish calls for. Tender and thin, the veal was merely sauteed with wine, lemon and capers.

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Off the spa menu, I’ll say the same for the fegato Toscano ($6.95 lunch). The liver wasn’t an inch thick, the way I like it best and the way the waiter said it would come. Instead it was thin, tender. Still, it was not overcooked and went well over the palate with flavors of onions, pancetta and wine.

The service at Mamma Dora’s, while always cordial, unfortunately suffers from the same lack of professionalism sometimes found at Fabrizio’s in Westlake Village. Sometimes the waiter is around when you want him; another time it’s a 10-minute wait for a glass of water. (Maybe it’s because he or she is back behind the bar, making drinks. Although there is a full bar, there is no bartender, and it’s up to your waiter to pour the vodka.)

Also, it can be a bit hard to get reservations, and not necessarily because the place is packed. At least three times, following up on calls that yielded no answer, I’ve had someone tell me about problems with the answering machine. Come on, Fabrizio.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Fabrizio’s Mamma Dora, 2503 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo, 482-1022. Lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner Monday through Thursday 6 to 9 p.m., Friday through Saturday 6 to 10 p.m. Major credit cards accepted. Reservations accepted. Full bar. Lunch for two, food only, $25 to $35. Dinner for two, food only, $34 to $55.

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