Changes in Menu, Decor Serve La Loggia Well

A year ago, when I last stopped by La Loggia, this noisy, upscale Studio City place was turning out an eccentric lineup of Californian-ized Italian dishes, many of them muddled and overly conceived. It’s changed. The current menu still shows plenty of imagination, but the focus is solidly back on the Northern Italian food La Loggia does best. It now serves more consistent food, though it often gets to your table more slowly than you might want.

The decor has undergone a few changes as well. The walls and ceiling have been swathed in large bolts of beige cloth, producing a campy, Rudolph Valentino effect that lends exotic charm to this intimate space. A veritable gallery of black-and-white photos--all for sale--are displayed throughout the restaurant. The tables are jammed together; at lunch, you sit elbow to elbow with entertainment biz deal makers and sharpshooters. La Loggia is one of the best places in town to catch the latest gossip. The catch is that you probably won’t be able to hear what they’re saying at the next table.

One aspect of the restaurant that hasn’t changed is its engaging, slightly hammy service. When the waiters sang “Happy Birthday” to a guest of mine, they substituted the word bellezza--”beauty”--for her name in the song, which just about charmed her socks off. They also brought not one but three desserts, each embellished with a candle.

Everyone begins with a basket of flat ciabatta bread, a vinegar-and-herb dipping sauce rather like the Argentine chimichurri and a helping of bruschetta, toasted Italian bread soaked in olive oil and topped with big chunks of tomato and whole garlic cloves. Add a starter like bufala mozzarella and grilled vegetables, and you’re almost looking at a complete lunch.

Also on the light side is carpaccio di tonno, a refreshing tuna carpaccio topped with shrimp, which you season with balsamic vinegar and a flavored olive oil to taste. Radicchio and arugula salad is enlivened with shaved Parmesan and fresh mushrooms. Insalata La Loggia is assorted lettuces with marinated vegetables and toasted pine nuts.

There are heavier appetizers, too, such as meaty portobello mushrooms in a heavily reduced sauce dominated by port wine, or the chicken patties the menu calls polpettini: two grilled cakes of ground chicken fragrant with some spice none of us could pin down. And speaking of exoticism, how did calamari ripieni get in here? The name may be Italian for “stuffed squid,” but the appetizer is definitely Chinese in spirit. It’s an entire squid stuffed with minced duck, shrimp and water chestnuts, then drenched with a soy-based sauce.

Personally, I’d start with a pizza, secure in the knowledge that I’d be ordering one of the best on the street. La Loggia’s pizzas are thin-crusted and stay crisp to the finish. Pizza di patate con pesto is a Ligurian farmhouse version topped with cheese, slices of potato and the traditional basil and pine-nut pesto. Also excellent is pizza alla checca, featuring tomatoes, mozzarella, a lot of garlic and a touch of basil.

Pastas are unvaryingly cooked al dente, but the toppings are often far from classical. Tagliatelle con salsiccia di pollo comes with a delicious chicken sausage, but also broccoli, Maui onions, brown sauce and roasted peppers, if I’ve listed all the ingredients. Tortelloni con spinaci e ricotta are terrific ravioli-like things stuffed with a delicate cheese and spinach mousse. I’d love them in a light broth, but the cheese and garlic sauce isn’t a bad foil for them at all.

Most Italian restaurants run out of steam when it is time for main course dishes, and La Loggia is no exception. Pesce bianco is a nice-sized chunk of whitefish, overcooked and served in a salty lime-arugula sauce. Mezzo pollo al forno, roasted free-range chicken with an herb crust, is generic in the extreme. If you’re very hungry, try bistecca alla Loggia, a nicely browned rib-eye steak in a heavy black peppercorn sauce. Lombata d’agnello is lamb chops in cranberry vermouth sauce, a strangely medicinal dish that is close in spirit to the old La Loggia menu I’d like to forget.

DETAILS

* WHAT: La Loggia.

* WHERE: 11814 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

* WHEN: Open for lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; for dinner 5:30-10:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:30-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday.

* HOW MUCH: Dinner for two, $42-$69. Suggested dishes: carpaccio di tonno, $8.25; pizza di patate con pesto, $8.25; tortelloni con spinaci e ricotta, $10.25; bistecca alla Loggia, $17.95. Full bar.

* FYI: Valet parking. All major cards.

* CALL: (818) 985-9222.