San Diego Spotlight : Duck Livers and Truffles? Yes, <i> That’s</i> Italian, Too

The Milanese have been known to call their town “the most Italian city in France,” which is a rather emphatic way of stating the proposition that Milan is the most French-influenced city in Italy.

Either way, Milan’s Bice (pronounced “bee-chay”) restaurant chain has opened a branch on the roof of downtown’s chic Paladion, and the menu is sufficiently unusual to blast the preconceptions of anyone who supposed he knew everything there is to know about Italian restaurant cooking.

This is not to say that Bice is the best of the crowd of high-line Italian eateries that has opened here in the past couple of years, since most of them share little in the way of style or menu and they thus are quite difficult to compare. But many of Bice’s dishes only bear passing resemblance to Italian cooking as we generally understand it here, and a guest who didn’t know better might indeed mistake much of it for contemporary French cuisine.

Bice prints the menu daily and varies it considerably, although a number of offerings remain constant. While the menu headings are familiar, much of what they encompass is not. Thus the antipasti section, for example, offers not only such typically Italian items as prosciutto with figs and bresaola (air-cured beef) with olive oil and lemon, but dishes more French or contemporary-international in style, such as a saute of duck liver with Champagne grapes, or an arrangement of grilled shiitake mushrooms and leeks in a truffled vinaigrette. This last, by the way, is a rather handsome presentation, even if the leeks are a little overwhelmingly bold in flavor--but you would have to have a palate as keen as a diamond cutter’s eye to discern the truffle flavor in the dressing. Truffles cost too much to be employed with any generosity.

This luxury chain started modestly enough in 1926, when Beatrice (of which “Bice” is a contraction) Ruggeri founded a country-style establishment in Milan. That eatery evolved into a far grander place, and in 1986 Ruggeri’s son Roberto opened a Bice in New York. The chain now operates in eight American cities, Paris and Milan.

Details common among them include deluxe menus, formal service and elegant decors, several of which in the United States have been planned by famed restaurant designer Adam Tihany, whose interiors can be found in many of New York’s top eateries. But having said this, it should be added that while the decor of the San Diego Bice may be luxurious, it also is cold, with little that seems restful to the eye, and lighting that needs to be softened considerably. If the woods and furnishings are unquestionably the finest, too little consideration seems to have been given to making the restaurant comfortable.

Bice dispatched executive chef Patrick Clark to supervise the kitchen, and, given the impressive credentials he brings from several New York restaurants, there is little to criticize in the cuisine. This is high-style cooking, and emphasis is given to the use of top-quality ingredients and dramatic presentation.

Pastas are presented with an unusual delicacy and by and large sauced with restraint. One of the simplest, if more amusing, is the Roman favorite called “ pappardelle al telefono .” The toss of broad, fresh noodles, tomato sauce and mozzarella comes by its name from the telephone-cord-like strands of cheese that spiral from plate to chin as the fork lifts a bite. But the menu also goes for elaboration and subtlety, as in the case of black and white tagliolini in a light but full-flavored shrimp sauce. The noodles in this case have their own distinctive flavor that brings a certain resonance to the plate.

The kitchen will make up a sampler plate of three pastas on request, and it is an elegant and filling serving. This recently included airy, fluffy gnochetti , or miniature dumplings barely touched with a basil-and-tomato sauce; macaroni in a rich, almost stew-like pheasant sauce, and tortelloni filled with Swiss chard and ricotta, a very typical Italian combination that rarely appears hereabouts.

Bice does an extremely good job with risotto and typically offers two versions every day, although a favorite style can be requested. This is a simple dish with demanding rules, which include near-constant stirring of the rice as it cooks in butter or oil and strongly flavored stock. The end result should be al dente , or pleasantly firm between the teeth. One beautiful rendition enriched the rice at the last moment with sweet, tender scallops and a scattering of fried, slivered leeks; a French chef attempting a risotto might well have taken the same approach.

Some of the entrees are equally French or international in style, notably the grilled squab with duck foie gras and the oven-roasted sea bass, which is encased in a flavorful horseradish crust and arranged over a mound of mashed potatoes. The spuds may be intended to modify the strength of the dish, although it is a bit unsettling to encounter them in an ambitious Italian restaurant. In any case, this is an impressive presentation of good, fresh fish.

The single most famous Milanese dish may be one that many Americans recall with dread from school cafeterias, although, when done properly, the sauteed breaded veal called costoletto di vitello alla milanese is hard to top for simple goodness. (It enjoys much popularity in the Spanish-speaking world, where menus often list it simply as milanesa .) Bice splits a fine, thick chop and pounds the meat to the thinness of a scallop, which, for the sake of tenderness, is preferable to starting out with an already-cut veal scallop. Simple but terrific, the quality of the meat is matched by the delicious garnish of cubed ripe tomatoes and shredded basil.

A jumble of fresh greens brought a similar lightness to an arrangement of sauteed veal sweetbreads and roasted potatoes, which was elegant but a little too restrained in the seasoning. The menu mentioned shallot vinaigrette, but the taste was barely present.

The dessert list takes an entire page but does not seem Bice’s strongest suit, although the warm chocolate tart is indeed like a souffle with body, and the coffee gelato tastes excitingly of the finely ground espresso beans that go into its preparation.

* BICE The Paladion, 777 Front St., San Diego 239-2423 Lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner nightly Pastas and entrees $9 to $20. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $50 to $90. Credit cards accepted