A Seafood Hook

You can thank the ambition of Tony De La Cruz for the mounds of food you get when you eat at Delmonico’s Seafood Grille in Encino these days.

De La Cruz became owner of the restaurant in May, and his long-term expansion plans call for him to win the loyalty of his customers with tons and tons of food. As Robert Monheim, De La Cruz’s gregarious general manager, puts it, if you like seafood, you don’t leave Delmonico’s hungry.

“This guy trained in France 23 years ago, and he was executive chef for a hotel chain with 140 chefs under him,” says Monheim. “He could go out right now and get another job like that for six digits, but instead he runs this place.

“I live way up in Lancaster, and I commute every day all the way to Encino to come to work here. . . . I do this because I like where Tony’s going with this place, and I want to be around to see it.”

De La Cruz went to work for the West Los Angeles Delmonico’s nine years ago and came to the San Fernando Valley when the Encino place opened three years ago. He spends his time in the kitchen, leaving Monheim to run things in the big dining room, which seats 165.

The restaurant draws an upscale crowd, and its private booths allow folks to eat without being seen, Monheim says.

The menu changes with the seasons, but as the restaurant’s name implies, the big sellers come from the sea. Among the items: grilled halibut on mushroom ravioli with a curry glaze, grilled sea bass on a polenta ravioli with tomatoes and capers, blackened snapper with a papaya salsa, sea bass in a potato crust with leeks and a cabernet sauce, soft-shell crab with a sauce of lime and chives, and seared scallops in a roasted garlic sauce.

Prices are from $12.95 to $17.95.

On Mondays, De La Cruz serves up no fewer than 11 different specials featuring crab. They include a blue crab ceviche, a cracked crab with a sauce of Dijon mustard and dill, a cobbler of stone crab claws, crab cakes with a lemon mustard sauce, soft shell crab on spinach, a steamed Alaskan king crab with drawn butter, and even a roasted whole Dungeness in a garlic sauce.

Prices for these items go to $21.95.

And on Sundays the restaurant offers a brunch featuring all you can eat for $15.95.

Delmonico’s is at 16358 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 986-0777.

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Look for chef Howard Lee to revamp the menu at the Santa Susana Grill--popular with the corporate crowd in Chatsworth--later this month.

As a rule he changes his menu once every six months, but the current one is about a year old now. It features an eclectic mix of continental dishes with a fillip or two from other parts of the world--an herb-roasted chicken breast, grilled Atlantic salmon with a spicy roasted tomato salsa, a Chinese-style roasted duck, a New York steak in a wine sauce, a blackened porterhouse with Cajun spices, an oven-roasted filet mignon with a sauce of wild mushrooms, and an oven-roasted beef roll stuffed with shiitake and enoki mushrooms, green onions and a ginger ponzo sauce. Prices range between $16.50 and $21.

Lee’s pasta dishes look more traditional--with one exception. They include angel hair with tomatoes, basil and garlic, chicken fettuccine with spinach, mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, and sauteed penne rigate with chicken, roasted garlic and sun-dried tomatoes in a sauce of shallots, Parmesan and cream. The exception is Lee’s linguine with fried shrimp and stir-fried Oriental vegetables in a dressing of ginger and soy. Prices here range from $9 to $12.

Given the range of peoples and cuisines inherent in that list of dishes, the good bet is that Lee’s new menu won’t be dull, either.

Santa Susana Grill is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. It is at 9777 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Chatsworth, (818) 709-1300.

* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. He may be reached at (805) 492-7909 or fax (805) 492-5139 or via e-mail at JHoveycompuserve.com