RESTAURANT REVIEW : Short on Space, Not Taste : Toto may not look like much, but the Italian chef with big-time credentials will make the adventure worthwhile.

“Why did we drive all this way to go to a place with no chairs?” implored my friend’s precocious 6-year-old, giving Toto a fish-eyed look through the res taurant’s plate glass window. Toto actually has folding chairs, so I’m guessing that the lad was just pulling our chain, but I can’t say I blame him.

No two ways about it, Toto is not the place for anyone not feeling particularly hungry or adventurous. Even with a mirror that takes up one entire wall, the dining area feels no bigger than a walk-in closet. The tables are tiny, and the fully visible kitchen, just across the waist-high takeout counter, doesn’t look big enough to service a family of four.

Now for the surprise. Toto is a terrific new restaurant, and when you are in the mood for a casual Italian meal--you can wear a T-shirt and bring the kids if you want--no place around will make you happier. Toto is a nickname of Tonino (or, if you want to be technical, Antonio) Morra, an Italian chef with credentials too impressive for just any modest neighborhood joint.

He’s usually found directly behind the counter, clad in a white T-shirt and bookwormish glasses, marshaling his staff. Tonino, younger brother of Pasquale Morra, chef-owner of Da’ Pasquale in Beverly Hills, is best when cooking the basics: breads, pizzas and pastas. He honed his skills at Santa Monica’s Il Forno, later expanding the operation to (get this) Japan. He opened the first Il Forno in Japan, and today there are three--in Tokyo, Chiba and Fukuoka--packing them in with this man’s good recipes.

That accounts for the presence of pizza Ken on his list of delicious pizzas, one of the best bicultural marriages anywhere. All Toto’s pizzas have a thin, crisp crust and a light topping, and this one is shiitake mushrooms, chopped garlic, fresh basil, a modest amount of olive oil and a thin layer of Tonino’s state-of-the-art tomato sauce. The fact that it is cheeseless makes it less intimidating as a first course, and also allows the natural exoticism of the mushrooms to dominate the moonscape crust.

First courses tend to be whoppers here. White bean salad plate, my favorite, is a virtual mountain of food: tuna, chopped onion and parsley and mixed greens mingled together with fat, snappy fagiolini. Calamari alla posillipo has a lighter effect but is still substantial. It’s a cold salad of fresh shrimp and rings of baby squid punctuated by yellow peppers and salty Mediterranean olives. And I wouldn’t call this melanzane alla Parmigiana an appetizer. How would you describe layers of eggplant, mozzarella, Parmesan and basil in tomato sauce? I thought it was some kind of lasagna.

Most of the other pizzas will fill you up nicely, though not like the kind that drip with oil and sauce. Pizza rustica and Pizza Romana are the two most flavorful--the ones to order if you’ve come, say, for pizza and salad. Rustica is sweet and pungent from smoked mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. Romana is more conventional, topped with anchovies, cheeses, tomato sauce and a heap of oregano, but the ingredients are combined with rare know-how. When Toto’s gets its beer and wine license, the Romana will probably become wildly popular.

Tonino is a master pasta chef. His pastas are not drowned in sauce, and they are never mushy or tentative. Grab an order of stacchioddi alla giusi . Stacchioddi is an ear-shaped pasta popular in Italy’s Puglia region. Here, a pile of it comes with a braciola of rolled veal and a baked pork rib, both of which are fragrant with fresh basil.

Spaghetti Zia Teresa (“Aunt Terry,” in Valspeak) is your classic pasta with clams, but there are heaps of garlic and a couple of green-lipped mussels to contend with as well.

If you’re really hungry, there are heaping platters of osso buco (in a thick, grainy tomato sauce with Arborio rice) and baked chicken, a country-style version with an oregano-rich crumb crust and pale orange cubes of rosemary-flavored potatoes.

Our 6-year-old cynic ended up eating almost everything, incidentally, and already wants to go back.

Even if he has to sit on the floor.

Where and When

Location: Toto, 5658 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys.

Suggested Dishes: White bean salad plate, $5.95; Pizza rustica, 10-inch $7.25, 14-inch $11.95, 16-inch $14.95; linguine al pesto, $6.95; stacchioddi alla giusi, $6.95.

Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday; dinner 5-10 p.m. daily.

Price: Dinner for two, $15-$25. No alcoholic beverages. Street parking. MasterCard and Visa accepted.

Call: (818) 997-6677.