At Planet Earth, No One Needs to Feel Deprived

“Mother Nature doesn’t serve junk food. We don’t either. No chemicals, refined sugars, animal fats or tropical oils. At Planet Earth, you can have your cake and eat it too,” reads the statement of intent at Planet Earth, a new natural foods bistro in Santa Monica.

Now that’s something we’d all like to believe. And with Alex Lombardo in the kitchen, it has every chance of coming true. That’s because Lombardo, Drago’s longtime head chef, is into it. He’s going all out to reduce the fat content, devising ways to make risotto without the butter and cheese, pasta without the seductive gloss of extra virgin olive oil. (At Drago, he says, they used to go through a case of it a week.)

In Planet Earth’s kitchen, he uses minimal amounts of canola oil instead and vegetable and seafood broths to infuse flavor. There’s not a speck of butter in the house, but he does have some extra virgine stashed away and on request, will drizzle a little over your pasta.

No one need feel deprived with a menu that includes thin crisped tortilla “pizza” topped with smoked chicken, roasted garlic and mozzarella, homemade gnocchi with wild mushroom ragout or house-smoked salad sandwich or balsamic glazed quail and spinach salad. Or specials like turkey osso buco or jumbo sea scallops over baby artichokes. No more than 5g of fat per portion? Even better.

Desserts, for which there are a growing number of fans, are the creations of pastry chef Kelly Kline, spirited away from the world-famous Golden Door Spa by co-owner Cory Forshpan. Three-layer chocolate cake? Mile-high apple cobbler or blueberry pie? You got it--all in low-fat, low-guilt versions. Take that cake and eat it.--S. IRENE VIRBILA

* Planet Earth, 1512 Montana Ave, Santa Monica. (310) 458-3096; fax 458-1008. Open daily. Major credit cards. No wine and beer license yet. Salads $6.25-$9.25; main dishes $7.25-$12.50; pastries $1-$3.