Sibling Revelry

If you ask Roberto Carboni, who owns Il Tiramisu Ristorantino Italiano in Sherman Oaks, what got him into the restaurant business, he laughs and tells you that he grew up one of 12 children in the city of Rimini, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, south of Venice.

The way he tells the story, you get the idea that maybe being only one among so many clamoring for food set him to wondering whether, if he cooked his own, he might assure himself a reliable supply.

A number of his siblings struck on the same idea, however, so the notion didn’t bring him much of an advantage. Instead, it set him on his life’s course--as it did some of his siblings, apparently, who, like Carboni, have made a living in the restaurant business ever since.

In such ways do good things come of necessity.

“I came here straight from Italy 10 years ago,” says Carboni, who not only runs Tiramisu but also works as his own chef. “All my family is from Tuscany, where I had a little restaurant before I came here.

“My whole family worked in restaurants. My brothers and I started out as pizza makers when we were boys. And my sister--I brought her here a couple of years ago to do some special things in my kitchen.

“We serve foods mostly from the north of Italy. We do all the classic recipes plus a lot of things that are a little different, like ravioli stuffed with lobsters, or my risotto al funghi porcini, which I make with wild mushrooms, or my tagliatelle asparagi e gamberi, which is fettuccine in a saffron sauce with asparagus and shrimps.”

The items Carboni lists appear among the pasta dishes on his new menu, which recently changed with the season. They top out at $14.95, and they only begin to tell you about the variety of items you can sample in this restaurant.

Among the secondi di pesce: black tiger shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce; snapper in a tomato sauce with capers, olives, and oregano; Carboni’s signature salmon in a tomato and rosemary sauce; and grilled swordfish in olive oil and lemon. Prices go to $16.95.

Among the secondi di carne: a chicken breast baked with spinach, Parmesan and mozzarella in a lemon sauce; a mild Italian sausage served over polenta; a crisp roasted half-chicken with garlic and rosemary; and veal medallions served with asparagus in a white wine sauce. Prices for most of the meat dishes are under $16.

Carboni stocks more than 110 different wines, and his desserts include, of course, tiramisu--in fact, not one but two examples of this dessert: the classic version and another made with strawberries and served in a tulip-shaped cup of white and dark chocolate.

The price? Who cares? It’s tiramisu.

Il Tiramisu Ristorantino Italiano serves dinner seven nights a week. It is located at 13705 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 986-2640.

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Fins Creekside restaurant in Calabasas will host another “Lunch with Santa” for children from noon to 2 p.m. Dec. 20, just as it did for Christmas a year ago. The rotund one from the North Pole will visit, and reservations are a must.

The restaurant will also host a special New Year’s Eve party Dec. 31 beginning at 8:30 p.m., as will the Westlake Village Fins Seafood Grill.

On the menu at both places: three fish dishes, three meat dishes, plus an appetizer, a salad, desserts and champagne at midnight. The price: $75.

Fins Creekside is at 23504 Calabasas Road, Calabasas, (818) 223-3467. Fins Seafood Grill is at 982 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village, (805) 494-6494.

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Cafe Sierra in the Universal City Hilton Towers offers a holiday buffet celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah on Dec. 25. The two holidays nearly coincide this year; Hanukkah begins at sundown Dec. 23.

Executive chef Mark Kohn will dish up roasted turkey, roasted duck, leg of lamb, bone-in ham and all the holiday fixings--pumpkin soup, a cranberry ginger relish, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn bread and winter vegetables.

The price: $29 for adults, $14 for children under 12.

Cafe Sierra will serve the buffet from noon to 8 p.m. Christmas Day. The restaurant is at 555 Universal Terrace Parkway, Universal City, (818) 509-2030.

* 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 JHovey@compuserve.com