RESTAURANT REVIEW : Il Casale’s Chef Builds Own Forum

Almost by definition, a neighborhood restaurant plays to a limited audience. Il Casale, recently opened in Encino, may prove the exception. This is one neighborhood restaurant with wide appeal, a modest Italian cafe that turns out an impressive range of dishes. You’d happily drive across town to eat here.

Considering the simple appointments, this L-shaped dining room has distinctive flair. French doors open onto an enclosed outdoor patio, undoubtedly home to the “A” tables in spring and summer. Unadorned peach-colored walls and a terra-cotta tile floor provide unusual warmth. Forest-green table napkins, clashing sharply with the walls at first glance, add a strangely calming balance once you are seated.

That calm balance is fragile on busy nights and weekends, when the wait for tables can be up to an hour and the decibel level approaches the pain threshold. Every new restaurant worth waiting for these days seems to have this problem.

Don’t blame chef Paolo Rossi. Rossi is a longtime gelato maker whose chief claim to fame has been supplying restaurants with frozen desserts. Now this native Roman has built himself a forum where he can strut his stuff with hot foods.

Not that his cold dishes aren’t good. Salads and antipasti are highlighted by the same simple good taste that distinguishes this dining room. His version of salmon carpaccio, an occasional evening special, is about as good as appetizers get. The ultra-fresh-cured salmon comes fanned out on the plate, sliced nearly as thin as good tenderloin. A garnish of salmon caviar and good olive oil is like icing on a prize-winning cake.

The antipasto misto looks modest in print, where it is described as a mixed plate of salami and cheeses. Don’t believe everything you read. What you get is a slice of ripe tomato topped with a meltingly sweet ball of bufala mozzarella, tiny rounds of dry salami, prosciutto and bresaola (thinly sliced air-dried beef), some grilled eggplant rolled with goat cheese, and a tangle of marinated red and yellow peppers.

Insalata mista novella is another overachiever on the cold side. This Italian version of mesclun is really a heap of arugula, lamb’s lettuce and other designer greens, all dressed elegantly with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

But I have to admit that the best starter is a hot one. I’m talking about the house minestrone, a rustic soup worthy of any in the San Fernando Valley. It’s a garden party of different textures: celery, tubular pasta, fagiolini , Swiss chard and zucchini, with a soup stock that is totally delicious.

Rossi’s creativity comes out when it is time for pasta, but the results are mixed. One I’ve never seen before has the unusual name of strangolopreti , Italian for “priest strangler.” I can only conjecture that these two-inch-long ricotta, spinach and mascarpone dumplings were once prepared so expertly that they caused some unfortunate prelate to lose his self-restraint. Don’t be afraid that this will happen here. These dumplings are quite soft and, besides, after two or three, you will find them rather cloying.

Rigatoni curry con gamberi e melanzane is a pasta dish you’ll probably finish. This oddball combination of baby shrimp, braised eggplant and creamy curry sauce really works with pasta. For a mild dish, it has surprising depth.

I can’t be so enthusiastic about the pumpkin gnocchi (gnocchi di zucca). The idea of mixing pumpkin paste with potato flour seems irresistible, more so when you learn that the recipe includes butter and fresh sage, but the result is a disappointment. These gnocchi , despite being tasty and pretty, end up leaden and glutinous.

The main dishes, called secondi piatti here, have their ups and downs. On the up side are bistecca Il Casale and capesante salsa di zafferano. The bistecca is a superstar, thanks to more thin slicing and deft preparation. It’s a New York steak that comes fanned out on the plate, nearly hidden under a blizzard of arugula and minced tomato. The capesante are simply grilled scallops in a good saffron sauce. It’s a happy marriage.

I’d pass on the roast half chicken (pollo senape alle erbe) and the veal chop (lombata di radicchio). Good cooking can’t rescue flavorless meat, which is what you get virtually whenever you order a veal chop (unless you are eating in one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants or a place similarly high up the ladder). This chicken isn’t even good cooking. Rather than roasted, it’s sort of half-baked, made soggy by an unctuous sauce.

Count on good sorbetti and gelati for dessert--after all, the man’s a pro--in myriad flavors. I don’t care for the house tiramisu , which is like nothing but eating a bowl of cream.

Besides, you can find tiramisu in any neighborhood Italian restaurant these days. And you already know Il Casale isn’t just any neighborhood restaurant.

Suggested dishes: minestrone, $4; antipasto misto , $7; rigatoni curry con gamberi e melanzane , $9.25; bistecca Il Casale affettata , $16.

Il Casale, 17970 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 344-5788. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; dinner 5 to 9:30 p.m. nightly. Limited parking in rear lot. Beer and wine only. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Dinner for two, $35 to $50.