Seafood Salad

It’s summer--time for something cool that speaks of the sea. * Tuscany Il Ristorante: At lunch, there’s a Mediterranean salad full of marinated shellfish sprinkled with sliced celery hearts. At dinner, the lobster martini salad includes hearts of palm and pink grapefruit, all in a creamy lime-Grand Marnier dressing. The steamed scallop and cuttlefish salad comes in lemon chervil vinaigrette. (Mediterranean salad, $12.50; lobster martini salad, $9.50; steamed scallop and cuttlefish salad, $8.) Tuscany Il Ristorante, Westlake Plaza Center, 968 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village, (805) 495-2768.

* Chianti Cucina: This salad is octopus, calamari and shrimp tossed in garlic, parsley, olive oil and lemon. Sop up the dressing with some crusty Italian bread. ( Insalata di mare , $11.50.) Chianti Cucina, 7383 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 653-8333.

* Trattoria Tre Venezie: A surf ‘n’ earth version--scallops, shrimp and mushrooms (porcini, when in season) in a ginger dressing with a splash of vermouth. (Scallop, shrimp and mushroom salad, $14.) Trattoria Tre Venezie, 119 W. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 795-4455.

* Water Grill: The plateau de mer (for two or more) includes oysters, clams, mussels, two kinds of prawns, sea urchin, Maine lobster and Dungeness crab, all served on seaweed and ice with mignonette dressing, a rich cocktail sauce and an aoli laced with saffron. ( Plateau de mer , $21 per person.) Water Grill, 544 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 891-0900.

* Jozu: Bite into charbroiled lobster and shiitake mushroom and let the earthy and salty flavors meld on your tongue. This bold salad is made up of a charbroiled lobster claw and tail along with a charbroiled whole shiitake mushroom on a patch of frisee flavored with a tangy yuzu vinaigrette made with tobandjan (a sweet Chinese chile). (Lobster and shitake salad, $15 .) Jozu, 8360 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (323) 655-5600.

* Golden Truffle: Smoked, marinated, raw and cooked join on a plate named for the famous Parisian restaurant La Coupole. There are layers of oysters, mussels, shrimp, crab, lobster, smoked salmon, marinated octopus, ceviche, homemade cured herring--the list goes on. It serves two