Il Nido: A Noisy Nest in Santa Monica

Do not be deceived by the name or logo of Il Nido, a small Italian restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica. Il Nido means the nest, but this ristorante in no way resembles the cozy little nest pictured on the sign--a thickly thatched round bed of twigs over which hovers a happy bird. Il Nido is, in fact, about the furthest thing from a nest you can imagine: It’s a long, narrow storefront with high buff-colored plaster walls, neither snug nor warm, but a big, windy room (especially when the air conditioners run during the coldest days of the year) with nary a soft thing anywhere to absorb sound or lend warmth. And there is just so much noise. Rock ‘n’ roll horn sections blare on the sound system. People yell, just to make themselves heard.

As the southerly spinoff of the popular Cafe Delfini up off Pacific Coast Highway, Il Nido seems to have attracted its own neighborhood following. You might think the noise level would attract a young crowd accustomed to heavy-metal decibels, but during all my visits, there were just as many couples in their 40s and 50s as younger dating folk. It’s apparent, in fact, that plenty of people like this very un-nestlike restaurant with its moderately priced, well-prepared, predictable Italian food. I, however, am not among them.

Having to talk so loud throughout a meal hurt my throat. And the fact that the temperature control is faulty and uncomfortable--the air conditioner blows hard to the front of the restaurant (although it is the back by the kitchen where the air gets so stifling).

There’s dreary art on the walls, hung so low that you’re constantly rubbing up against an oil painting as you eat. And the service is often scattered and indifferent: We must ask two, three times for another bottle of water, for pepper--even after it is offered to us. And the food comes out of the kitchen in fits and starts so one person has an appetizer 10 minutes before the rest of us, and often there’s an interminable wait between courses.

That said, most of the food is pretty good. Oh, I wouldn’t order the carpaccio again: thin beef with too much mustard and thick flakes of not-great Parmigiano. And a bread and tomato soup has the consistency of mashed potatoes--what cookbooks might call the stiff peak stage. A far more palatable starch dish is the big bowlful of polenta with porcini mushrooms--although from reading the menu I was unprepared for soft polenta, like grits, topped with a heavy red sauce with a scattering of the precious mushrooms.

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But a soup (actually a thick red sauce) with clams and mussels and grilled toasts is a perfect, hearty cold weather starter, as is shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce. Pasta e fagioli here is a pleasant, pureed white bean soup with two or three floating penne and basil leaves. Salads are basic and doused in a strong balsamic vinaigrette.

A lot of customers seem to order the large bowls of pasta, and this might be the best way to experience Il Nido. I ate delicious rigatoni tubes in a cream sauce with Gorgonzola for what seemed like an hour and still hadn’t worked the heap down to the rim of the bowl. Also satisfying was a special fusilli with pink sauce and shrimp. Linguine with delicious fresh seafood (shrimp, mussels, clams and squid) is sauced so sparely with white wine it’s dry.

The handful of entrees all come with chopped tomatoes flecked with basil and some of the best roasted potatoes in the city. Veal piccata is tender and alluring, steeped in lemon. The veal chop has been flattened, breaded and deep-fried: Squeeze lemon on it and you have a kind of wiener schnitzel on the bone.

A boneless, skinless chicken breast is hammered into a thin, lightly breaded map that melts in the mouth. A generous hunk of excellent salmon is beautifully cooked on the rare side, juicy, fresh.

I have only tried one dessert: an ample square of standard tiramisu encrusted with grated chocolate. Every other time we finished our entrees, we only wanted one thing: To escape from the din. Never has Main Street, Santa Monica, seemed so quiet, so still, such a tremendous relief.

* Il Nido, 3009 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 399-1843. Open Tuesdays through Fridays for lunch, Tuesdays through Saturdays for dinner. Beer and wine served. Major credit cards accepted. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $35-$70.