Always Room for a Prosecco

Prosecco, a dry, fruity sparkling wine from northeastern Italy, is little known in this country. But that didn’t keep Amy Fishburn from naming her smart Toluca Lake trattoria after the stuff.

It’s an elegant place of brown marble-tiled floors, peacock-blue ceilings and French doors. The food is mostly first courses: salads, appetizers and pasta dishes. A bed of baby greens embellished with diced pears, toasted pine nuts and crumbled Gorgonzola is one exquisite example.

If you’re in a celebratory mood, consider kicking off the evening with a bottle of (why not?) prosecco. The wine list offers several, the best being a single-vineyard bottling from Ruggeri called “Giustino B” ($30). For my money, it’s better than any comparably priced French champagne.

You’ll certainly begin your meal by dipping rustic Italian bread in a plate of garlic-infused olive oil, standard issue at all tables. You could follow that with a rich, warming roasted corn chowder with prosciutto cracklings, which give it a sort of Italian down-home flavor.

There’s a terrific appetizer of air-dried beef (bresaola) accompanied by a garlic mayonnaise mixed with mushrooms, celery and capers. The bruschetta is a do-it-yourself version. The waiter gives you a dish of (perhaps overly crunchy) toast rounds and a bowl of delicious chopped tomatoes, basil and garlic, and you assemble bruschetta to your taste.

The pastas are cooked al dente, and some are definitely better than others. Penne with pancetta, spinach, tomato, red wine and garlic, for instance, comes loaded with bits of smoky bacon, and the sauce is well balanced. One of the more substantial choices is rigatoni with mild Italian sausage, broccoli and both red and yellow bell peppers in a zesty, garlicky marinara sauce dotted with Asiago cheese.

But the homemade chicken ravioli is overloaded with gooey cheese. And the linguine with clams, scallops and fresh arugula is no closer to Little Italy standards than one expects in the Valley. The seafoods are fresh, but the sauce is strangely lacking in flavor.

Desserts change nightly. Almost always available are a mixed berry creme bru^lee and a frothy tiramisu, both good. On the debit side, my chocolate bread pudding tasted stale and had an unpleasantly stiff texture.

Come to think of it, how about another prosecco for dessert?

BE THERE

Prosecco, 10144 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake. Lunch Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Monday-Saturday, 6-10 p.m. Street parking. Beer and wine only. American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Dinner for two, $38-$59. Suggested dishes: corn chowder, $4.50 (cup)/$5.75 (bowl); baby greens with diced pear, $6.50; penne with pancetta, $13.50; fettuccine with pork meatballs, $13.50. Call (818) 505-1895.