OC LIVE : Grazie Offers a New Reason to Give Thanks : Cheery Ambience, Creative Ideas Could Add to Chef’s Reputation

I’m often asked why more North County restaurants don’t appear in this column. I’d gladly include lots of them, but here’s the rub: Other than the occasional Asian or Mexican newcomer, there isn’t a lot of cutting-edge restaurant activity in this area.

Take Cypress. It’s a quiet community with a growing Asian-American population; not the first place you’d look for a bright, built-from-scratch Italian dinner house.

Look again.

Grazie is the new kid on the block here, and so far it’s drawing good crowds.

The restaurant is owned by Jesse Barragan, the chef who made himself a name at Seal Beach’s popular Spaghettini, where he was a founding partner. Barragan has a chance to widen his reputation here. If and when, that is, he smoothes out a few rough spots.

You’ll spot the restaurant easily as you amble down Valley View Street. It’s a free-standing building sitting on the edge of a medium-sized strip mall, with a residential area just beyond the building’s perimeter. Everyone I’ve brought here was surprised at the ambience and location.

Inside, Grazie is a cheerful place with a tile floor, rustic earth-toned walls and a wood-burning pizza oven. The dining area would look more elegant, however, if the plate-glass tops were removed from the tables. Also, the narrow booths seem ill-conceived, too big for two but cramped for four.

Barragan has several creative ideas, some that work and a few that need work. The wonderful bread sticks--piping hot from the pizza oven, puffy and fragrant with garlic--are among the successes. Barragan burns almond wood in his oven, and the wood imparts a wonderful smoky flavor.

His grilled artichoke appetizer is just fine, too, though it might be even better without the heavy-handed smear of garlicky herb butter. The carpaccio is a plate of thin-sliced, rare prime tenderloin topped with the traditional sprinkling of capers and small mound of Parmesan.

In contrast, the Grazie sampler, consisting of three appetizers, illustrates the weakness as well as the strengths of this restaurant. On the plus side are the accompanying sauces: an unctuous ranch, a textbook marinara and a nice, grainy pesto. On the negative side are the leaden batter on the fried zucchini, the sogginess of the underdone calamari and the mushy broccoli, zucchini and tomato filling in the tasty but overcooked vegetable strudel.

Grazie’s pizzas are excellent examples of the crisp-crusted style. Particularly good are the goat cheese pizza with artichoke and pieces of sun-dried tomato, the barbecued chicken (with a sweet, hickory-scented homemade barbecue sauce and lots of sweet onions) and the classic sausage and pepperoni.

Pastas and entrees come with a choice of soup or salad--a tough choice in this instance because both are done well. The salads are huge and decorous, topped with fat, spicy croutons and blanketed by good dressings such as Caesar or creamy Italian. The soups are homey comfort food. Be on the lookout for Barragan’s tomato spinach bisque, a sweet, filling bowlful.

The pastas are fresh, not dried, and made on the premises, but they’re erratic, sometimes overdosed with oil or cooked a shade too long. The best two are linguine with fresh clams and half-moon ravioli stuffed with lobster. The linguine comes in a bowl with tiny razor clams, and the garlicky broth is terrific for sopping up with Barragan’s champion bread sticks. The ravioli are light enough to levitate on their own, and the filling is quite nifty, lobster chopped into fluffy ricotta.

Two other pastas do not show nearly so well. The fruit-of-the-sea combination comes overflowing with good clams, scallops and jumbo prawns, but the pasta is mushy and the prawns are overcooked. Angel hair with spicy chicken is overwhelmed by chopped basil with a strangely medicinal taste, and the chicken is on the bland side.

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I’d give thumbs up to New Mexico chili linguine but for one flaw: I’d swear the turkey in this chili (an intriguing combination of roasted eggplant, corn and sweet peppers in a piquant cilantro cream sauce) is processed. Fresh roasted turkey would make the dish sing.

Main dishes are often an afterthought at Italian restaurants, but not here. The rich Tuscan grill is a hearty combination of lamb chops, sirloin steak and Italian sausage on a pile of nicely cooked Swiss chard. Veal parmigiana boasts good veal and eggplant, topped with just the right amount of mozzarella. The New York pepper steak features a richly atavistic topping of scallions, mushrooms, bacon and cracked pepper. And, of course, there are scampi: pan-fried shrimp with white wine and too much garlic.

After dinner, Grazie wields a mean dessert tray. There’s strudel, this time not a vegetable version but a reassuring, Austrian-style apple dessert served hot with a buttery caramel sauce topping. Homemade New York cheesecake is creamy, and there is tiramisu for die-hard traditionalists.

Grazie is high-end moderate. Appetizers are $4.25 to $7.50. Pastas are $8.50 to $13.95. Entrees are $10.25 to $15.95. Desserts are $4.95.

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GRAZIE

* 10205 Valley View St., Cypress.

* (714) 220-9773.

* Lunch and dinner 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

* All major cards.