Sapori Trattoria Is a Clone With a Mind of Its Own

“I’m having dinner in the middle of a broccoli patch,” said one of my friends, as we pulled up to Sapori Trattoria.

OK, it’s true that the Tustin Market Place, home to this new restaurant, is an interloper shopping complex developed smack in the middle of prime farmland. But in the face of a giant Edwards Cinema complex, a Bookstar and a Food Court splattered with names like Rubio’s Fish Tacos and Renaissance Cafe, the rustic image fades somewhat. And anyway, I wouldn’t have called it a broccoli patch. Onion field is more like it.

Sapori Trattoria is a clone of one of Orange County’s most authentic Italian eateries--the original Sapori on Bayside Drive, Newport Beach--but a clone with a mind of its own.

The massive main dining hall has a masculine-looking cement floor and walls sponged a soft burnt sienna, so it is fair to say that it retains the androgynous look of its ancestor. The patio is wonderfully situated for night dining, the mall’s brooding, cafe au lait facade dramatically surrounded by a bright glow of neon. Seen from a short distance, it looks like an album cover, circa 1979.

Wherever you sit, this is a casual restaurant designed for casual dining. Inside, the tables are rugged-looking granite topped with mauve paper place mats; the seating is close and even a bit cramped. Outside, there is more room to stretch. Choose a table under one of the beachy patio umbrellas, and watch the world go by.

Sapori Trattoria is again brought to you by the Maniaci brothers, Franco, Adriano and Sal, three guys from Italy who have worked their way up into the big time. If you have eaten at their original restaurant, you are bound to remember such dishes as mezzanine di grano saraceno all Pik Pak (a ribbed, tubular brown pasta), panzotti ai due salmoni in salsa di tonno (an ethereal pasta with salmon in tuna sauce) and the wonderful veal cutlet with a cheese breading. Well, you won’t find them here. The Maniacis are taking few chances with this menu; it’s still full of good dishes, but less daring.

Don’t expect any impossibly Italian waiters here, either. Service is excellent at this restaurant, but it is unimpeachably American. At the Newport Sapori, the waiters don’t understand you because your pronunciation of the Italian dishes confuses them. They may not understand you here, either, but for the opposite reason--they can’t speak Italian.

The bruschettas are made from thick slices of grilled bread with unctuous toppings, and are good to nibble on while you decide what to order. Bruschetta olio pomodoro e basilico is probably my favorite, thanks to a hearty chopped tomato, garlic and basil mixture, but bruschetta alla Romana, with nothing but garlic and oil, can be just as satisfying.

If you aren’t planning a big meal, you might try a pizza. These pizzas aim straight for the middle, with a crust that falls somewhere between the cracker-thin style of the north and the thick Neapolitan pan style. Pizza melanzane grigliate con scamorza has grilled eggplant and smoked mozzarella cheese, but it’s blander than that sounds--the trademark smokiness gets lost somewhere. (One person in my party ended up sprinkling a little crushed red pepper on top.) Better is the Maniacis’ trademark, a pizza with zesty bacon and onion topping (pizza bacon e cipolle).

Salads and antipasti are simple and tasty. One to look for is caponata, here a sort of savory vegetable jam of marinated onions, eggplant and celery, mixed with fat capers and a sweet tomato sauce. You can’t eat too much, but caponata provokes thirst, and hunger, like nothing I know of.

Scampi Riviera is much closer to Sicily, the Maniacis’ homeland, than to the Riviera. It’s sauteed shrimp in a heady marinara sauce with abundant garlic. Standbys like the good carpaccio and mozzarella caprese (balls of whole milk cheese with sliced tomato and sweet basil) can be counted on, and there are various lettuces like mache and radicchio mingling with the virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressings that are the pride of self-respecting Italian restaurants.

The Maniacis have always been proud of their pastas, and with good reason. Penne all’amatriciana comes in a delicious sauce of hot pepper, bacon and tomatoes. Pasta puttanesca is a Neapolitan street dish, zesty with garlic, capers, black olives and hot pepper. Normally, the dish gets added zing from anchovies but the anchovies have apparently been omitted from the shopping mall version.

As an alternative to pasta, there is always a risotto del giorno. One evening, the chewy arborio rice may be flavored with heady porcini mushrooms. Another, it could be made with baby clams and fava beans.

There are few surprises among the secondi piatti (main courses). The best one is certainly grigliato misto, where perfectly trimmed lamb and beef tenderloin are grilled with the trattoria’s homemade luganega sausage, looking for all the world like an edible mosquito coil. Costolette d’agnello alle erbe is lamb simply grilled, and veal dishes such as saltimbocca and scaloppine are always on hand.

Desserts are a Sapori calling card, from the excellent tirami su, made of sabayon- like whipped cream layered between crunchy ladyfingers with a small mountain of cocoa powder on top, to half-frozen lemon and hazelnut confections (semifreddi) with a soft cake center. Look for special desserts, too, like St. Honore meringue cake and panna cotta, a Piemontese baked cream that is a cross between Mexican flan and paradise.

Sapori Trattoria is moderately priced. Salads and antipasti are $2.50 to $9.50. Pizzas are $7 to $9.50. Primi piatti (pastas) are $3.50 to $11.50. Secondi (main courses) are $9.50 to $16.95. Desserts are $3.50.

* SAPORI TRATTORIA

* 2991 El Camino Real, Tustin.

* (714) 731-7480.

* Lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, till midnight Friday and Saturday.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa accepted.