True Amore

Stepping from my car at Valentino, I always feel a shiver of anticipation. Few places in Los Angeles offer such a sense of occasion. When you walk into this 25-year-old Santa Monica restaurant, you know you’re someplace special. There, at the threshold, is Valentino’s owner, Piero Selvaggio, warmly greeting everyone as they arrive at this ongoing party. Even if he’s never seen you before, he appears delighted that you’re here. And you can be sure he’ll remember you the next time you visit.

Valentino at its best is a haven of civility, a gracious, sophisticated restaurant serving state-of-the-art northern Italian cuisine. Decorated with contemporary sculptures, the three dining rooms work equally well for romantic trysts or important business dinners. But whatever the occasion, the restaurant is capable of sweeping you off your feet. First, Selvaggio or maitre d’/sommelier Arturo Nieto will lead you to a table and an attentive waiter who will pull out your chair and unfurl your napkin, then inquire, “What is your pleasure?” And mean it.

Most people don’t bother with the menu, preferring to let Selvaggio and chef Angelo Auriana create a special one for the table. This is the secret to having a memorable meal. Selvaggio will ask you what you feel like eating--fish, game or perhaps a pasta tasting? Before deciding, you’ll want to consider the 80-page wine list of one of the best cellars in the country. (The Northridge quake decimated much of the collection, forcing Selvaggio to replace the bottles at today’s cost, so prices, while still eminently fair for most wines, are no longer as astonishingly low as they were.)

Wine is clearly Selvaggio’s passion. Before anyone knew who they were, Selvaggio had the wines of Barbaresco superstar Angelo Gaja and Barolo maestro Aldo Conterno, plus Silvio Jermann’s stunning white wines and Maurizio Zanella’s top-notch sparkling wines. There are many fine French and California choices, too, but it’s silly not to take advantage of the stupendous compendium of Italian wines. Pick one yourself or let Selvaggio surprise you with his latest discovery--Batar, an obscure Chardonnay blend from the Tuscan producer Querciabella, or a wine made from the indigenous grape vitovska from the Kante estate in Friuli. Just remember that Selvaggio believes in abbondanza, so unless you request otherwise (or give him a budget), the bottles will just keep coming.

Auriana’s elegant and understated northern Italian cooking showcases great ingredients in the simplest possible manner. Let him prepare a series of exquisite little courses that represent the best of contemporary Italian restaurant cooking. After all, dining at Valentino is no time to worry about cost. Trust me--it will be expensive.

To start, Auriana usually offers a plate of frico, crisp, lacy Parmesan chips, which are wonderful with Champagne or an Italian sparkling wine such as Bellavista or Ca’ del Bosco’s brut zero. They may be accompanied by a miniature mozzarella in carozza, a deep-fried sandwich filled with molten cheese. Or dainty sweetbread profiteroles and tiny bundles of field greens wrapped with an anchovy filet.

Auriana is confident enough of his skills that he doesn’t need to show off. Especially when he’s got a great product like a wonderful cheese. He’ll serve chalky sheep’s milk ricotta or a creamy robiola from Italy with only cracked peppercorns and a drizzle of Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil. Or a single sweet shrimp set down on bitter cicoria. Or a glorious porcini mushroom cooked in parchment to bring out its earthy fragrance.

The Bergamo-born chef knows, too, that pasta is best served in small portions: buttery ribbons of fettuccine tossed with moist Napa Valley rabbit or tender oxtail ravioli in butter, sage and pecorino. Sometimes there’s a Roman-style ravioli that I love; messy and oversized, it’s filled with ricotta and spinach and served in a fresh tomato sauce laced with tiny halved plum tomatoes and basil. Risotto also can be marvelous. I remember one tinged ochre with sea urchin and topped with musky porcini for an inspired marriage of earth and sea.

As a secondo, Auriana may offer a mixed grill of quail, lamb and venison. Sometimes there’s a tender but not very flavorful venison chop in a blueberry reduction. Personally, I prefer braised rabbit or roasted pheasant on the bone to the dainty, boned versions Auriana likes to serve, which you could find in any top restaurant around the world. I’m also less impressed with the French influence in his cooking. What’s the point of foie gras or beurre blanc here of all places?

Of course, you can order from the a la carte menu, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I tried it one night recently, and the food tasted as if it came from another kitchen. While I was happy with a rustic soup of lentils and spelt, chewy Southern-style orecchiette (“little ears”) pasta sauced with broccoli rabe was timidly spiced. And everything else resembled the kind of old-fashioned cooking that passed for good Italian cuisine decades ago. Only in this case, it wasn’t even well-executed. Squares of calves’ liver were inexplicably overcooked. Osso buco was dried out and lackluster.

That meal reminded me of other quibbles: The bread is too doughy and refined. The dolci, or desserts, are almost always disappointing and, after a sumptuous “extravaganza” menu, tend to be superfluous anyway.

Yet Valentino still owns a big piece of my heart. When you leave everything to Selvaggio, nowhere else in Los Angeles are the food, service, ambience and wine in such perfect and rare balance.

VALENTINO

CUISINE: Italian. AMBIENCE: Elegant rooms with tuxedoed waiters and a welcoming host. BEST DISHES: “extravaganza” menu. WINE PICKS: Cigliuti Barbaresco, 1990; Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio, 1991. FACTS: 3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 829-4313. Closed Sunday. Lunch Friday only. Dinner for two, food only, $65 to $118; “extravaganza” menu, $59; special menus may be more. Corkage $17; $25 for magnums. Valet parking.