DELICIOUS DISHES / ONE REVIEWER’S CHOICES : Savory Memories : Four eateries-- American, Mexican, Chinese and Italian-- serve up meals well worth repeating.

Afew weeks ago, when this section celebrated its second year of life, I began to think about restaurants I had visited over a year’s time. Various images and sensory memories floated to the surface: scruffy places and elegant tables, flavors and kitchen fragrances, the look of dishes coming out of the kitchen and the graciousness of a certain waiter.

It occurred to me that I couldn’t focus on a particular place. Instead, I followed my palate from restaurant to restaurant, from one distinctive dish to another.

I think of Eatz Bistro, tucked away in a retail and office complex in Westlake. Owners Neal and Sharon Rosenthal consistently provide at least one or two dishes worthy of a return trip. One is the thinly sliced swordfish, very gently cooked and layered with fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, and covered in a mild gazpacho. It’s a light, beautifully assembled dish.

Eatz has a fairly sophisticated menu and the fairly expensive prices that go with it. For a more down-to-earth dining experience, read on.

La Gloria Market, located across the street from Oxnard’s Transportation Center, is a restaurant and a delicatessen, a market and a meeting spot. They make superb tortillas and serve up prepared meats--chicken, pork and goat.

But directly across the aisle is the deli section, where they sell gorditas, my favorite choice for munching at one of the courtyard tables outside. The gorditas vary a little. Sometimes they’re shaped like basketballs and other times like inflated Frisbees.

They are large, heavy balls of corn masa, deep-fried and stuffed with a handful of carnitas (pork). Have the counter person open them up and toss more sauce inside, giving the liquid a minute or two to seep out into the surrounding corn and dilute the heaviness of the cornmeal.

Two of the dishes I liked best from the past year I found on one menu at Chen’s Szechwan in Thousand Oaks. In this suburban spot, run by third-generation Chinese chef Tony Chen, I loved the dynasty chicken ($7.95). It’s a dish of large, still-juicy chunks of boneless chicken, deep-fried and crispy, served in a Szechwan sauce complete with green onions and mushrooms on a bed of crisp, sauced broccoli.

As much as I like the chicken, I think I liked the Chungking lamb even more. This dish of thin slices of lamb is served with water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, carrots and mushrooms, but it’s the Chungking sauce that really does it. The sauce is made from a base of ground soybeans with soy sauce, wine, garlic and ginger. It is grainy and slightly sweet.

In downtown Ventura, Giovanni Tromba, one of the county’s most active restaurateurs, is part owner of Giovanni’s Cafe, which serves a dish of calamari fritti that may be the region’s best. Heck, it may even be the best on the West Coast. Served as an appetizer (although it could easily make an entree), the dish is seasoned and then fried tenderly. This, along with the restaurant’s wonderfully rich foccacia, full of garlic and olive oil, makes an excellent meal in itself. It’s especially pleasant at lunch on the outside patio.

Dishes from an American bistro and Mexican, Chinese and Italian specialties made the last 12 months another memorable year.

* WHERE AND WHEN

* Eatz Bistro, 900 Hampshire Road, Westlake, 494-4133. Open for lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday, dinner from 4:40 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and from 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Major credit cards and reservations accepted. Full bar.

* La Gloria Market, 430 S. Oxnard Blvd., Oxnard, 486-5335. Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. No credit cards, no reservations, no alcohol.

* Chen’s Szechwan, 2024 E. Avenida de los Arboles, Thousand Oaks, 492-3583. Open seven days, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Reservations accepted, major credit cards accepted. Full bar.

* Giovanni’s Cafe, 185 E. Santa Clara St., Ventura, 648-1462. Open for lunch Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m., for dinner Tuesday-Saturday 5 p.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Major credit cards and reservations accepted. Full bar.