Restaurant Review : Where Pizza, Panini, Pasta Are Informal

Cafe Angelino is not a scene. You don’t have to dress. You don’t have to valet the car. You don’t have to make reservations--in fact, you can stroll by, tether the dog, have a latte and maybe a slice of chocolate walnut pie and read most of the paper. Or don’t sit down at all: call ahead, and your pizza, pasta and/or insalata will be bagged and waiting for you.

Tucked close to a couple of the real heavies among L.A.’s Italian restaurants--Orso and Locanda Veneta--this tiny Mom and Pop operation on 3rd Street confidently fills a basic neighborhood need for a no-frills, multi-purpose cafe where you can wander in wearing sneakers or flip-flops for a bowl of soup or a four-course meal to eat in or take out.

Antonio Riccardi, the former chef of Rosti-Toscana in Brentwood, runs the kitchen and his wife Gail runs the front. Earnest and personable, Gail Riccardi believes equally in her husband’s cooking and her customers’ happiness: In today’s world, such enthusiasm is unusual and refreshing.

The small, butter-colored dining room has wooden tables and chairs, antique photographs on the wall and an overall, appealing modesty.

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Customers seem to exhibit similar patterns of behavior. Upon entering, they peer first at the day’s antipasti (dark juicy caponata, slices of grill-marked eggplant, bright blanched carrots studded with garlic) and desserts (ricotta cheese pie, chocolate-dipped cookies). Then, there’s a glance into the steam table at the various roasted and sauced chickens and finally, the choosing of a seat.

The menu is familiar enough in Los Angeles, but Cafe Angelino distinguishes itself through the use of high-quality ingredients, the imprint of a competent chef and extremely reasonable prices. Nightly specials offer a little added variety.

In short, the food here deserves Gail Riccardi’s endorsement.

Try the generous insalata tricolore ; wide, side-by-side stripes of arugula, radicchio and endive make a colorful vegetal flag. Shaved parmigiano, an extra $1.50, turns a starter into a meal.

Panini are recommended: especially a melt-in-your-mouth grilled eggplant on crusty bread or, even better, the prosciutto made juicy with tomato and mozzarella.

Pizzas have thin, bubbly crusts, their bottoms scorched just enough to add a good, smoky flavor. Toppings are simple, elegant, applied with restraint. Mozzarella melts into a fresh tomato puree and a few basil leaves garnish the pizza margherita . The cheeseless puttanesca presents more of the fresh tomato puree sharpened with oregano, and scattered judiciously with capers and a few good olives. Best of all, however, is the focaccina , that thin, crackery crust topped first with a luscious blanket of melted mozzarella, then with a paper-thin coverlet of prosciutto.

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Pastas are also well-focused and restrained, although sometimes, especially with take-out items, the noodle element can be overcooked. Bow ties with artichokes have just enough of the light fresh tomato sauce to accentuate the thistles’ nuttiness without overwhelming it. The same versatile tomato sauce changes character completely when matched with penne and a lot of aromatic, silken porcini mushrooms. A soft and creamy bechamel smooths a tangy meat sauce in the lasagna; too bad the noodles are so soft.

A vegetable risotto with carrots, peas and artichokes is stirred to order. Rice grains are still singular and chewy and the dish itself is good and saucy, which is how I prefer risotto.

All of Angelino’s entrees are chicken and each selection is served with good roasted potatoes and colorful but uninteresting fresh vegetables. There’s namesake pollo Angelino , a moist, classic, well-salted roasted rosemary chicken. Also, chicken breasts are available in both a cream and oyster mushroom sauce, and in a fresh tomato sauce with black olives and oregano.

In creamy, warm, fresh-from-the-oven creme brulee, raspberries explode with intense berry flavor. Deceptively pretty, a dense ricotta cheese pie is oddly grainy and dull. Pass it up in favor of a good tiramisu or that virtuously dense, intensely flavored chocolate-nut pie.

* Cafe Angelino, 8735 West 3rd St., Los Angeles , (310) 246-1177. Open daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner and take out. No alcohol served. Major credit cards accepted. Dinner for two, food only $20 to $34.