Scampi Dishes Let Food Come Out of Its Shell

Not long ago I saw “Big Night,” a film about two Italian brothers who start a restaurant. One of the brothers is a temperamental chef, the other a manager eager to please the customers.

This was just shortly before I had dinner at Scampi, a restaurant belonging to two brothers from Naples: Massimo and Fernando Navarretta. Both are chefs, but at the moment, Massimo is working the kitchen here while Fernando is running the front of the house. Spooky, eh?

I was introduced to Massimo’s cooking at this same restaurant eight years ago. For several years after that he occupied himself with Amici, a South Coast Plaza-vicinity restaurant and wine bar, leaving Scampi in Fernando’s hands. But last year, Fernando took a long sabbatical, and Scampi languished. Now both brothers are back at the restaurant, with plans afoot to pump new life into the business.

I’d say the plans are coming along swimmingly. The interior is lighter and more spacious, with the removal of most of the fishnets and tawdry red lanterns that once gave this restaurant the look of a trattoria on the wrong side of some town in southern Italy. There’s a new parquet floor, nautically themed Italian watercolors adorn the walls and cloths the color of caffe latte cover the tables.

Today, my main complaint with the physical setup is the straight-backed metal chairs at some tables. They’d be more at home at a bridge club.

The brothers also are in the process of expanding Scampi’s menu, which centers around home-style pastas and various dishes featuring--what else?--shrimp.

And not just any shrimp. When they are in season, the restaurant gets large prawns from the Adriatic, serving them in the shells with various sauces. During the fall and winter, the prawns merely come from Iceland or New Zealand, no tragedy. They are big, sweet shrimp that taste of the sea, and I like to eat them in crostino di gamberoni, flavored with garlic and piled on toast. They are also delicious broiled in the shell all’aglio, with garlic, white wine and a sprinkle of herbs.

Most of the menu is appealing. There’s a lively tomato soup, though from its name (pappa al pomodoro) you might expect the thick Tuscan bread and tomato soup of the same name, rather than the light, coral-colored broth served here.

Bruschetta Campania is the usual Italian appetizer of toast rubbed with olive oil and piled sky high with chopped tomatoes, basil and garlic. (I think this kitchen uses a bit too much tomato. Of course, Campania is the Italian province that’s synonymous with tomatoes.)

If you catch “Big Night” (and I recommend you do--it will make you very hungry), you’ll see a very funny scene involving risotto. Scampi gives you a choice of three risotto dishes, all properly chewy and flavorsome. One is risotto primavera, cooked with porcini mushrooms, carrots and a bit of asparagus. Another is risotto Marco Polo: scallops, bay shrimps, a touch of saffron. But I’d choose the third, risotto frutti di mare, a gaudy combination of clams, mussels, scallops and shrimp.

The pastas should not disappoint you here. Spaghetti della nonna (literally, “granny’s spaghetti”) is not for light appetites. The dish is full of homemade meatballs and chunks of Italian sweet sausage, all covered by a thick marinara sauce. Rigatoni ai carciofini is its polar opposite, austerely dressed with olive oil and rosemary and topped with a few peeled artichokes sauteed with garlic. Ravioli della casa are filled with--surprise!--scampi. The doughy little pasta pockets come in a salty lobster sauce full of sun-dried tomatoes.

If none of these pastas appeal, Scampi is eager to oblige. Ask the chef to make you one of the off-menu pastas, such as penne with pancetta bacon, arugula and Gorgonzola, or anything made with seafood. The brothers are, after all, from seafood-loving Naples.

There aren’t many of what we’d call main-course dishes, but Scampi makes most of its secondi count. Shrimp are available alla diavola in a spicy marinara sauce, or alla reale, an excessively complex combination of shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, mozzarella and wine.

Meat eaters should order braciola della mamma, a rolled flank steak stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs. There is also osso buco casareccia, home-style center cut of veal shank, cooked to extreme tenderness and brimming with marrow in a rich braising liquid flavored with carrots, celery and spices.

For dessert, you can choose among a workmanlike tiramisu, sumptuous cannoli (crisp-fried pastry shells filled with sweetened ricotta cheese) or affogato della casa, a simple dish of vanilla ice cream with a little espresso poured over it. Scampi also makes zabaglione, that froth of egg yolks, sugar and Marsala, though I would ask the kitchen to cut down on the sugar if I order it again.

The brothers are about to make Scampi a wine-oriented place. They plan to revamp the wine list, add a wine room (as Massimo has already done at Amici) and organize bring-your-own-wine family-style dinners at the set price of $25 per person. For now, you’ll have to contend with a small list of boutique Italian wines that includes the ’90 Campaccio and the ’88 Gattinara Riserva from Dessilani, both priced at under $40.

An evening at Scampi may not quite be a Big Night, but a little fun is certainly not out of the question.

Scampi is moderate to expensive. Appetizers are $5 to $9.50. Pastas are $6.50 to $11. Main dishes are $10 to $16. Desserts are $4 to $6.

* SCAMPI

* 1576 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa.

* (714) 645-8560.

* Open 5:30-10 p.m. daily.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa accepted.