Well-Composed Repasts

At Verdi, a tiny jewel-box restaurant in Woodland Hills named for Italy’s most celebrated opera composer, there are faux balconies built into the stucco walls and replicas of 19th century gas lamps--not to mention lots of flowers and white tablecloths. You can expect to hear an Andrea Bocelli CD at least once during the evening.

As for the food, chef Lamberto Valdez--who cooked at Forte’s for nearly 15 years--may bring no real surprises to the menu, but his cooking is solidly accomplished.

The menu’s Italian could use a little work, though. The translations of “hot antipasti” and “cold antipasti” are switched (and “caldi” has become “coldi”).

But hey, everything is tasty (except the restaurant’s doughy rolls). Take scampi bianco, a hot appetizer of shrimp sauteed in olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley. Or pepperoni arrostiti, two grilled bell peppers in a perfect vinaigrette.

Most pastas and entrees come with a choice of soup or salad. The pasta e fagioli has a smoky ham flavor, and the minestrone is subtle and generously stocked with vegetables. Verdi’s house salad has a beautifully balanced vinaigrette, and the Caesar has a piquant dressing, light on anchovy.

There are only seven pastas, but Valdez makes them count. The tame but tasty spaghetti puttanesca uses black olives, capers and onions, omitting the red pepper. Rigatoni Verdi, tossed with sauteed eggplant and sweet Italian sausage, is quite delicious.

So, for that matter, is linguine pescatore, sometimes available off-menu. It’s loaded with clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp and sea bass. Another seafood dish, when available, is grilled Atlantic salmon. But most of Verdi’s meat entrees are chicken, veal or steak.

The best chicken dish is pollo Vesuvio, chicken tenders in white wine with sliced potatoes, onions and mushrooms--and plenty of garlic. The veal piccata, called veal ala lemone here, is tender and lemony. My steak tagliata (sliced steak fried with garlic and herbs) was on the tough side, though.

The excellent desserts are made by a local pastry artist named Edie. These are some of the most beautiful desserts in the Valley, and the visual element is only the half of it. Her hazelnut butter cream square is a layered genoise cake studded around the sides with chopped nuts. There’s a cappuccino cup of dark chocolate filled with a rich coffee cream and a creme bru^lee, as silky and satisfying as Bocelli’s voice, if you’re into it.

BE THERE

Verdi, 21926 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. Lunch 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5:30-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Beer and wine. Street parking. All major cards. Dinner for two, $25-$42. Suggested dishes: scampi bianco, $7.95; linguine pescatore, $18.95; pollo Vesuvio, $11.95; desserts, $4.95. Call (818) 884-0243.