Savor the Renaissance of Romance

Hold the Borgia and pass the De Medici. At Ti Amo, an unusual new Laguna Beach dinner house, chef Peter Higginson is having fun with what he terms “Renaissance Italian cuisine.”

Perhaps you remember this spot when it was called Monique. If so, you won’t recognize it. Co-owners Robert Castoro and Martine Hermansen have refurnished it with a roaring fireplace, Spanish tile floors, high-backed tapestry chairs and a trompe-l’oeil fresco painted by Hermansen. Its rich Renaissance style makes it one of the loveliest and most romantic restaurants in the county.

On weekends, you might also eat in the partially cloistered patio. It’s delightful to dine in this sunken space surrounded by lush plants, fresh air breezing in off the ocean and caressing your skin. The music out here is soothing, almost narcotizing: maybe mournful, Celtic-flavored ballads by Enya or (in keeping with the restaurant’s antique theme) a haunting Gregorian chant.

Unusual as the food may sometimes be, it wouldn’t be accurate to say it represents what Italians--or anyone, for that matter--ate in the 15th and 16th centuries. A good number of Higginson’s dishes are made with tomatoes, which were newcomers from the Americas in 16th-Century Europe and not yet part of the diet (they were usually grown as ornamental plants, and when eaten at all they were picked green and fried). Largely this “Renaissance” menu is an anthology of Italian dishes fashionable on Melrose Avenue, 1994: bruschetta, ahi, carpaccio, gnocchi.

Higginson will be the first to admit that he is cooking in the spirit of fun rather than as an academic exercise. Taken that way, the concept becomes more palatable. After all, Renaissance food is probably not for everybody. In the 15th Century, people thought nothing of flavoring a dish with ginger, pepper, clove, mustard, vinegar, dried fruits and cheese, a combination that would rapidly cloy the modern palate.

On this menu, look for subtler dashes of saffron, mint, sage, lemon, walnut or pistachio instead. Culingiones di melanzane e noci , for instance, is billed as Sardinian ravioli with eggplant, walnuts, ricotta, Romano cheese and mint in a chunky tomato sauce. It turns out to be chewy noodle pockets with a grainy, eccentric filling. Pistachio d’agnello con peperoni arrostiti salsa al Madeira is pistachio-crusted medallions of tender lamb with roasted peppers and a wine sauce. It’s a complex, heavy dish you can really picture on a Renaissance table, and Higginson does a beautiful job with it.

One of the best appetizers is goose carpaccio. It’s dark red smoked meat, sliced thinner than prosciutto and richer-tasting than country ham. In this dish the topping (red onions, raisins, citrus juices and shaved Parmesan) happens to adds a proper Renaissance touch of sweet and sour.

Don’t be put off by the appearance of the (irregularly available) wild boar sausage. It may look like a Farmer John patty, but its gamy complexity and intense flavor make it a nearly perfect match for the crisp, mildly spiced peaches on the side.

Minestrone di fagioli alla Milanese is the hearty bean and pasta soup eaten all over present-day Italy, and this one contains no major surprises. On the other hand, gnocchi alla Romana turn out to be nutmeg-scented semolina crab cakes served with lemon aioli , not the potato-based dumplings we associate with the term gnocchi. The cakes are dense and good, and though they are slightly one-dimensional, Higginson still gets an A for effort. Nutmeg, lemon and semolina were all big-time Renaissance ingredients.

Other than those ravioli, the pastas don’t venture much into terra incognita. There is the inevitable version of angel hair pasta, cappellini di verdure , with seasonal veggies and a basil tomato sauce. I enjoyed my fettuccine carbonara, a rich, cream sauce pasta made with prosciutto, pancetta , scallions, peas and the oddball addition of hot pepper. Linguine alla Bolognese arrosti is your standard dish of noodles with meat sauce, but a satisfying version that adds roasted peppers, mushrooms and sausage.

Anytime I come back, I intend to order pears ripiene alla Gorgonzola as an intermediate course. This dish is truly a refresher. It is composed of pears, Gorgonzola cheese, romaine lettuce and walnuts in a delicious balsamic vinegar dressing.

That should lighten the palate sufficiently to take on something like the pollo affumicata . The best thing about this monstrously large half chicken, smoked and flavored with fresh herbs, is that it has a persistently smoky aftertaste (well, the potato cake on the side is deliciously aromatic). The skin, unfortunately, is flaccid.

The menu lists cusinetti di vitello made from free-range veal (I do suspect most 15th-Century veal was free-range). You may know this dish of pounded veal sauteed with prosciutto, Fontina cheese and a powerful sage demi-glace sauce under a more familiar name, saltimbocca.

And now to the menu’s infamous tonno : sashimi-sized chunks of raw ahi arranged in a row. It looks rather Japanese at first, but the tuna sits on a bed of mildly caramelized onions, and at each of the four corners of the rectangular dish is a bit of tasty red pepper puree mingling with lemon shavings. This is truly exotic.

The desserts are standards such as tiramisu, chocolate torte, blueberry creme brulee (rather eggy) and assorted ice creams, all reasonably well executed. But the best dessert is probably the romantic mood an evening here should put you in.

It worked for owners Castoro and Hermansen. The day before the restaurant opened, April 1, Castoro proposed to her, and she accepted. Ti amo is Italian for “I love you,” and reportedly that has been true since well before the Renaissance.

Ti Amo is moderately expensive. Antipasti are $3.95 to $8.95. Pastas are $8.95 to $14.95. Secondi (main courses) are $14.95 to $18.95.

* TI AMO

* 31727 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.

* (714) 499-5350.

* Dinner Sunday through Thursday, 5:30 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday till 11 p.m.

* MasterCard, Visa and American Express accepted.