An Italian Renaissance, Beverly Hills Style

In Los Angeles, Italian restaurants have lost a little ground to a mini wave of French bistros, but Italian cuisine still wins the hearts--and appetites--of most restaurant-goers. It’s a style of cooking almost everybody likes. And it’s so familiar that many dishes no longer need translation. Bruschetta, fagioli, pappardelle and pollo al mattone have become part of the diner’s lexicon.

In fact, Italian food is so popular here that opening an Italian restaurant was practically a no-brainer for a space that’s seen a casual American restaurant, a more upscale American restaurant and a trendy California-French cafe come and go in quick succession. At least Cesare Vietina, whose father, Bruno, owns the Industry hangout Madeo in West Hollywood, must have thought so. In the old Drai’s Cafe space, Vietina has launched Principe Ristorante, with his father as chef. Only a five-minute drive from Madeo, the new restaurant offers very similar fare--old-fashioned northern Italian cuisine. In the ‘80s at Il Giardino, Bruno Vietina introduced L.A. to the lighter, more elegant Tuscan cooking that took off as fashion mavens discovered Armani.

Principe epitomizes Beverly Hills glamour. Out front, gorgeously dressed women with near-identical hairstyles wait for the valet to bring their cars around. An impeccably restored 1930s Rolls with whitewall tires is parked near the curb. At the door, there’s a love fest of air kisses and murmured ciaos. The maitre d’ is dazzling in the latest Italian designs. And at the small bar, I spot enough Prada bags and Gucci loafers to stock an entire boutique. Waiters in black jackets rush around, rolling a silver cart to one table, where silver-haired Vietina the elder personally carves a roasted veal leg.

The new owners have reupholstered the banquettes in satin stripes and added lush new palms between the booths. Shirred cafe curtains help obscure the office buildings across the street and make the room feel cozier. A wood-burning pizza oven in the corner turns out thin-crusted rounds. The crowd is well-heeled and older, more into dinner parties than tete-a-tetes.

Principe offers a handful of pizzas, which I sometimes order for the table as an antipasto. The simple Margherita (mozzarella, tomato and basil) is just OK. I can’t bring myself to order the pear and Gorgonzola pizza, but maybe I should. Focaccia Principe is best saved for lunch: The pizza-sized flatbread is split and filled with prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato to make a thin ham and cheese sandwich--which would be greatly improved if it were made with better tomatoes.

Antipasti and first courses include a number of unusual choices. But there’s always one person in my group who insists on ordering antipasto rustico. Big enough for two or three people to share, the cold-cut platter includes a pale prosciutto di Parma, a darker cured ham, very ordinary mozzarella, vinegary olives, tasteless tomatoes and salame that has the slightly rancid taste of low-quality cured meats. The best thing on the plate is the Parmigiano Reggiano, though it’s cut neatly with a knife instead of chiseled off the wheel as it should be to best appreciate its flavor and texture.

You’d be much better off with the fluffy artichoke frittata or the classic vitello tonnato. I like two bean dishes best: shrimp and calamari set down in a bean sauce swirled with olive oil, and the rustic cannellini bean soup topped with a raft of bread. Broiled sea bass seasoned with olive oil and a little lemon is pleasant. There’s also an excellent beef carpaccio blanketed in fresh artichokes and Parmigiano Reggiano shavings. Quail salad, however, tastes as if it’s been sitting in the refrigerator for days. And risotto Bruno--rice submerged in far too much oily cheese and veal sauce--is impossibly rich and cloying.

After trying the tired pasta with lobster--all sauce and rubbery lobster--and linguine mixed with a khaki-colored and none-too-vibrant-tasting pesto, I credit the sommelier with steering me toward two of the better pasta dishes. The first is a special, spaghetti with soft-shell crab in a light, spicy tomato sauce; the second, ravioli with a tender, juicy filling of coarsely chopped veal sauced in butter and asparagus. On the whole, though, pasta is not Principe’s strong suit.

Main courses lean toward the expensive, showy fish and meat dishes of old-style Italian restaurants. You can get veal scaloppine, here topped with more of those finely sliced artichokes. A little less sauce, and it would be quite good. A substantial but bland veal chop is smothered in a thick veal and mushroom sauce. The most I can say is that the kitchen isn’t stingy with the mushrooms. Dover sole, that most delicate of fish, is blanketed in so much cafeteria-pasty “Champagne” sauce that it’s hard to tell whether it’s fish or chicken. And branzino (sea bass) cooked inside a salt crust emerges sadly overcooked. Perhaps the best choices are meats. The giant bistecca for two is fine, but I’d suggest ordering it rarer than usual. Filet of beef, which picks up a nice smoky edge from the wood-burning oven, is better by far. And there’s always that roast leg of veal, sliced off the bone tableside and served, like all the main courses, with green beans, leaf spinach and golden roasted potatoes.

The restaurant has a very experienced and knowledgeable sommelier in Giorgio Lingero, a veteran of San Domenico and Barolo in New York City. He’s produced a wine list that’s easy to read and strong on Italian wines without neglecting “I Vini a Nord del Golden Gate Bridge” (wines from north of the fabled San Francisco bridge). If Lingero had a better budget, I suspect, the list would boast more exciting, cutting-edge wines from Italy.

If you haven’t finished your bottle, ask if there’s any cheese. We get a plate of ricotta salata and fresh fava beans, which are wonderful together. As for dessert, I can recommend Principe’s classic tiramisu or profiteroles. Or you might prefer to end the meal with a small glass of limoncello, the famous lemon liqueur from Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.

While Principe may not be breaking any new ground, it offers what many restaurant-goers want: the familiar Italian cuisine that Madeo has been serving for years. Now there’s simply a new place to get it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least in Beverly Hills

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PRINCIPE RISTORANTE

CUISINE: Italian. AMBIENCE: Sleek and glamorous with striped banquettes, potted plants and a dressed-up crowd. BEST DISHES: Bean soup with bread, beef carpaccio, artichoke frittata, shrimp 1634624544tiramisu. WINE PICKS: 1995 Antinori “Peppoli” Chianti Classico, Tuscany; 1995 Franco Martinetti “Sul Bric,” Piedmont. FACTS: 369 N. Bedford, Beverly Hills; (310) 288-0810. Lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Appetizers, $8 to $18; main courses, $14 to $26. Corkage $12. Valet parking.