Belmonte, Which Takes a Cue From Other Shores, Is Star of 2nd Street

The Belmont Shore area is only a few minutes from cities such as Cypress, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos, well within what I call the intelligent carry-out radius for transporting takeout.

Belmonte bills itself as a unique market place. I prefer to think of it as an upscale Italian deli with touches of California, New York’s Upper West Side and Asia. To my mind, it is the clear star of 2nd Street, Long Beach. Stardom doesn’t come cheap.

Belmonte is owned by meat mogul Frank Pocino and run by Bob Trager, former manager of New York’s famous Carnegie Deli. Pocino fell in love with Balducci’s in New York’s Greenwich Village and envisioned his business in the same spirit. The head chef is Ben Patterson, an imaginative young protege of Sonoma County’s colorful John Ash. This team cooks, believe me.

One side of this place is a deli and full-service takeout counter with racks for such goodies as Dal Raccotto olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar and imported mascarpone. The other side is a sit-down restaurant with a gorgeous antipasto bar. Either side provides great food to go.

Order sandwich plates and hot pastas from the restaurant menu. The good grilled lamb sandwich, bite-size strips of grilled lamb topped with melted fontina cheese, has components such as Kalamata olive relish, marinated eggplant and sauteed spinach, all served open-faced on focaccia bread. The toothsome baked cheese crespelle is almost a crepe, with a light, airy filling and a rich sauce composed of cream, Gorgonzola cheese and black pepper.

The glass case displaying the salads and meats is a wonder; there must be 50 choices, all appealingly displayed on colorful platters, staring you in the face. Most salads are in the $4- to $7-per-pound range, with a few going as high as $9.95. Kristina’s potato salad uses red potatoes, skin and all, with homemade mayo, finely chopped celery and several other ingredients. An incredible grilled corn salad is mostly white corn, off the cob, and various minced peppers.

Cold pasta lovers should try Asian linguine, made with Patterson’s unctuous homemade peanut sauce and sesame oil, or any of about 15 Italian specialties, from penne with sun-dried tomatoes to fettuccine with pancetta, tomatoes, capers and cream. As for meats, there’s a wonderful gravlax in a mustard herb sauce and a not so wonderful chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and spinach. The latter preparation is fine, but the thing seems to be 90% filling and 10% chicken.

The only other relevant criticism is that Belmonte doesn’t pack everything in the terrific heatable snap-lock plastic containers the cold salads come in. Hot foods come in non-leak cardboard boxes that allow the contents to breathe but that are ultimately are messier and more difficult to manage.

Don’t leave without buying a few desserts, either. Many of the best ones, the meringue-rich lemon hazelnut torte and a sumptuous turtle cheesecake with an outrageous nut chocolate topping (to name two) come from Pasadena’s wonderful Old Town Bakery, the same people who make desserts for Louise’s Trattoria in Huntington Beach.

There’s also an espresso bar featuring Pasquini coffees should you get thirsty while waiting for everything to be packed up. I don’t know if ordering carry-out will arouse your thirst, but at Belmonte, I know it is going to make you hungry.

* BELMONTE

5251 E. 2nd St., Belmont Shore.

(310) 433-9977.

Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m to 10 p.m, Sunday till 9 p.m.

American Express, MasterCard and Visa accepted.