Diverse, Bargain Menu at Quality Italian Spot

In the more than two centuries that America’s melting pot has simmered, emigrants frequently have tended to cluster in the trades or professions taken up by the first of their countrymen to arrive here.

In that tradition, the Italian restaurant empire of the Gangale family in San Diego County has grown.

The first Gangale, Salvatore, arrived from Rome in the early 1980s and opened the instantly successful When in Rome in Leucadia, which he later ceded to sisters Rosina and Rosa Maria when he opened Salvatore’s in downtown San Diego. Rosina later opened her own place, Caffe Roma in La Jolla, which last fall came under Salvatore’s purview and changed its name to Cin Cin da Salvatore.

One look at the menu during a recent visit to the very new Cafe Luna in Carmel Mountain Ranch brought with it the suspicion that there must be a Gangale on the premises, since several of the dishes made their first local appearance at either When in Rome or Salvatore’s. As it happens, chef and co-proprietor Anthony Gangale is brother of the three restaurateurs mentioned above, and his new establishment is a treasure of a find in North County that almost certainly will prove too small to accommodate the clientele it should attract.

Located in a storefront in one of those just-add-water-and-concrete strip malls that spring up overnight in newly developed areas of Southern California, Cafe Luna has a charmingly decorated, restful interior that bespeaks higher prices than those actually charged. What makes this place a find is the depth and diversity of the menu and the quality of the cooking vis-a-vis price, which rarely ventures over $10.

A sophisticated selection of pasta dishes dominates the list; there are a few salads and antipasto offerings and six meat entrees. A fish of the day may supplement the menu along with a meat special, such as filet mignon prepared alla pizzaiola with tomatoes, garlic and capers.

The antipasti really could share the salad heading. The caprese tops sliced tomatoes with buffalo milk mozzarella, basil leaves and olive oil, and mixed greens garnish the antipasto plate of cured meats, olives, cheeses and sun-dried tomatoes. The marinate , a combination of grilled-and-marinated eggplant, zucchini and peppers, was better in concept than execution; the light dressing and garnish of torn basil leaves added much, but the flavor of the gas grill could be tasted.

Among formal salads are mixed greens with balsamic vinegar; a Caesar; spinach with eggs and tomatoes in a honey-bacon dressing, and the siciliano , a simple but very pleasing bowl of slivered red onion and coarsely chopped tomato and cucumber seasoned with oregano and vinegar.

The many pastas include veal-and-chicken-stuffed tortellini in a reduced cream sauce; penne in spicy arrabbiata tomato sauce, and rigatoni alla matriciana , which adds pancetta bacon to the same spiced sauce; spaghetti di Nona (Grandmother), which specifies meatballs; spaghetti alla Norma, with tomato sauce, eggplant and cubes of mozzarella; spinach-and-cheese ravioli in cream sauce flavored with minced walnuts, and rosetta , or noodles rolled around ham and cheese and baked in becciamella (satiny, Italian white sauce).

A good way to sample three at once is to order the tris della casa , which can vary at times but recently included the fusilli umbriaco (spirals with creamed tomato sauce and a bit of vodka); the manicotti, delicate, homemade crepes baked with cheese, spinach and tomato sauce, and the day’s special pasta, penne alla Norcina, a delicious toss of macaroni, cream and crumbled Italian sausage.

A healthy serving of the day’s pasta accompanies the entrees. Choices here include chicken or veal in Marsala (in a departure, Cafe Luna adds cream to the sauce), herb-marinated grilled chicken, veal scallops with lemon, and the rich, Roman veal dish called saltimbocca . The pollo de la costa seems an especially good choice and consists of boned chicken breasts, lightly sauteed and deliciously finished with slivered scallions and carrots, mushrooms and a lemon-and-mustard flavored cream sauce.

Among desserts are the hybridized, California-inspired cappuccino mud pie, and flaky, rich, traditional cannoli.

Cafe Luna

11040 Rancho Carmel Drive, Carmel Mountain Ranch

Calls: 673-0077

Hours: Lunch weekdays, dinner nightly

Cost: Pastas and entrees $6.50 to $13.59; dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $45.