RESTAURANT REVIEW : Da Pasquale 2 Not a Match for Original

I’m crazy about Da Pasquale in Beverly Hills. I like the waiters, the menu with its changing selection of daily pastas, the very ‘80s look, the clatter and clamor, the look of the clientele, and mostly, the food, which tastes as if it’s fresh from the stove of a talented, natural cook--which, in fact, it is. When the second Da Pasquale, appropriately named Da Pasquale 2, opened in the old Grappa (and even older Old World) space on Sunset two months ago, I couldn’t wait to go.

The renovated space looks fabulous. Gone is Grappa’s mauve and gray, brass and glass corporate lobby decor. In its place is an elegant, industrial dressiness. Strong, reassuring steel girders define the entryway. The low ceiling has been removed, revealing a floor joist threaded with exposed conduits and dozens of utility boxes that each sport a cunning, flame-shaped chandelier bulb. There is blessedly little art, only an enormous gilt-framed mirror. Through a sparkling wall of windows, a classic view of Sunset Boulevard dominates the western wing of the restaurant: There’s Spago, Tower Records, Book Soup, a complicated, harrowing intersection.

I have to say, however, that my first two visits to this new Da Pasquale are disappointing. The feel of the place is still a little disjunctive. And the food lacks the sparkle and luster I’ve come to expect from other Mora family restaurants. (Pasquale Mora and his brothers have cooked at and opened several restaurants around town, including two Toto Cafes.)

For one, the menu was not the Da Pasquale menu I know and love, but non-rotating and closer, I believe, to the Toto menu. Cooking in general was passable, but uninspired. One night’s special, a homemade spinach manicotti , was a thick fresh noodle stuffed with pureed spinach and topped with a lively tomato sauce. Fine, not great.

What I always remember from the original Da Pasquale is the fresh fish, often served with roasted potatoes and sauteed escarole or spinach. Here at Da Pasquale 2, a pretty slab of almost raw swordfish comes with two precooked antipasti : pickled string beans and pickled carrots. Not only did I send the fish back to be more thoroughly cooked, I missed the freshness of hot, just-cooked vegetables. And the antipasti , displayed on plates just inside the front door, proved to be tired: Artichoke hearts were sodden, the rapini dry and stringy.

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The service was also mildly distracted, and occasionally confused. One night, our entrees came out before our salads arrived, and sailed by again on another trial run--the same bowls of food--before we were ready for them. When we finally received the entrees, the risotto was dry and congealed--we ate a bite and set it aside. Happily, without a word, a fresh bowl of creamy, fresh risotto arrived in several minutes.

Maybe, I thought, maybe I’m making it up about the original Da Pasquale. So I went back to the Beverly Hills location to see if I was exaggerating that restaurant’s virtues. I wasn’t. Everything--lightly battered shrimp and calamari on a bed of arugula, a white bean and escarole soup redolent of good extra-virgin olive oil, striped bass with sauteed spinach, orecchiette with a deep and subtle ragout of beef--was superb.

Still, certain traits of Da Pasquale 2 do indicate that it can, in time, grow into its name. I’ve seen the familiar Mora faces watching over the dining room. And the menu was drastically rewritten in the last week and looks more promising. My most recent meal there included several high points: A Caesar salad was terrific. Spaghetti with Italian sausage had a tomato sauce with the lightest and most enlivening touch of cream. Filet mignon medallions were overcooked and dull, but they came smothered with big succulent chunks of porcini mushrooms.

Desserts were limited to tiramisu , those frozen ice cream truffles and a soggy vanilla cream pastry. The espresso seems to be improving.

I know it’s not completely fair to compare the child to the fully matured parent--and Da Pasquale 2 is clearly a mere child. Certainly, the owner here faces all the riddles and challenges of cloning a successful restaurant. Still, one wonders, why not import the original tried-and-true Da Pasquale menu for starters, just to get things rolling, and borrow those fabulous cooks?

* Da Pasquale 8782 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-6464. Lunch and dinner seven days. Full bar. Major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $25-$52.