RESTAURANT REVIEW : Garden of Italian Delights : * La Pergola harvests a variety of vegetables and herbs grown year-round just outside the back door, and blends them in unique combinations with fresh pastas, meats, fish and chicken.

“Everyone thinks that I save money by growing all my own herbs and vegetables,” says Tito. “Actually, it costs me money.”

Tino--Tindaro Pettignano, Sicily-born chef-owner of La Pergola in Sherman Oaks--raises winter produce such as pumpkin, squash and green beans during the cold months; a variety of peppers, eggplant and artichokes in the spring, and herbs virtually year-round, in 6,000 square feet of gardens visible from the restaurant’s back door. There’s a negative economy of scale in a small operation like this; the cost of water and the two full-time gardeners he employs more than erase any savings from not having to buy from a supplier.

But it’s good news for us, anyway. Tito’s produce is turned into some of the San Fernando Valley’s best Italian cuisine.

La Pergola also happens to be a wonderfully charming place. At the moment, the room is brimming with poinsettias potted in bright red, standing in marked contrast to the huge palm that dominates the space all year. So the place has a Christmasy glow to go with the ceiling-high spruce tree sparkling with Christmas lights that perches on the bar. No wonder the restaurant is such a tough table in December.

Personally, I find La Pergola charming year-round. The decor is rustic and very European: beamed ceiling, white brick walls, huge Italian vases scattered around, red candles burning on all the tables. Service is professional and efficient, performed by a team of professional waiters in crisp white shirts and full-length black aprons.

Many of the appetizers revel in Tino’s organic produce. Zucchini flowers (three to an order) are delicate things stuffed with a tempting mixture of fresh spinach and mascarpone cheese. The crusty home-baked bread, grilled and topped with chopped tomato, fresh garlic, basil and olive oil, makes a great bruschetta. Involtini di melanzane --roasted eggplant rolled with fontina cheese and prosciutto--employs Tito-grown eggplant, more flavorful and earthy than the conventional agribusiness aubergine. It must be that Valley soil.

Tito’s fresh pastas are great, too. There are concoctions as unusual as panzerotti (a huge whole wheat flour pasta pocket stuffed with a mixture of white corn and prosciutto) and more tried and true incarnations of ravioli and fettuccine , made on the premises daily. The exotic ravioli del giardino come stuffed with a puree of Tino’s produce (zucchini flowers, butternut squash, white eggplant and yellow peppers) under a light cream sauce.

Fettuccine Bolognese is served perfectly al dente. The noodles have a chewy bite, and the hearty, richly flavorful veal ragu topping is made from the same good veal that goes into the scaloppine. Fettuccine del giardino is a sumptuous combination of shrimp, spring fennel, Maui onions, which he grows, and a sprinkle of pine nuts.

Most of the fish, chicken and meat dishes come with a delicious Arborio rice pilaf and a fresh vegetable, usually peas or green beans. Most are simple, occasionally adorned with Tino’s garden-fresh herbs, mostly fish such as grilled salmon and pesce spada (swordfish), chicken breast or thinly pounded veal medallions, all anointed with the obligatory Italianate sauces.

Or you could have a party with a few of the great homemade desserts. There’s a finely crafted tirami su , a pomegranate sorbet, pumpkin pie made from Tino’s own pumpkins or a rich chocolate cake--two layers of dense fudge. Yep, Christmas comes early, as the saying goes.

WHERE AND WHEN

Location: La Pergola, 15005 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

Suggested Dishes: Zucchini flowers, $7.50; ravioli del giardino , $14.50; fettuccine alla Bolognese , $11; pesce spada , $17.50, pomegranate sorbet, $5.

Hours: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Full bar. Valet parking in rear.

Price: Dinner for two, $40 to $65.

Call: (818) 905-8402.