Teasers and Turnoffs

Everybody keeps asking me what the name of the new Italian restaurant is on Little Santa Monica Boulevard not far from the Museum of Television & Radio. Pamily? Pommolly? Polima? Nobody can remember which way it goes. One person in the know kindly thought it would help to relate that Pammolli is what you get if you combine the names of the owner’s two daughters--Pam and Molly. Wrong. Chef-owner Massimo Ormani may or may not have two such daughters. Pammolli, in fact, is his mother’s maiden name.

After cooking at Locanda Veneta for the past 11 years, Ormani has moved north a few blocks and opened his own restaurant. Mandarette tried out this space for a while but couldn’t make a go of it. Before that, it was a somewhat shabby Hungarian restaurant where I used to see women eating at sidewalk tables with their poodles in tow. Now it’s a vision of romantic Italy with Venetian red walls, beeswax candles and faux frescoes. According to our waiter, everything on the menu is “awesome.” I’m thinking maybe he should learn a little Italian, at least enough to pronounce the food fantastico or meraviglioso, if he feels compelled to give an opinion.

First courses are promising, particularly since many of them are dishes you don’t see at every Italian restaurant in town. There’s a very pretty endive salad made with red and white varieties, fanned slices of ripe avocado and rosy, barely cooked shrimp. Warm seafood casserole perfumed with lemon makes another good starter. Although penne with Bolognese sauce is a bit dry, the sauce has a lovely subtle taste. Ribollito comes in a lidded porcelain bowl, which seems a strange choice for the Tuscan peasant soup thickened with bread.

Main courses seem as if they come from another kitchen entirely. Braised veal shank arrives with the bone sticking straight up, quite the macho presentation, which doesn’t disguise its ordinariness. Lobster in the pricey pasta dish is so tough it turns eating it into a wrestling match. The lobster wins. Pheasant breast isn’t exactly tender either. The best main course we tried was the special of the night, tagliolini with asparagus and porcini mushrooms.

Someone in the kitchen has a thing with the vertical. A narrow wedge of hazelnut torte with a seam of chocolate teeters on the plate. Too bad its warm, nutty character is held in check by its icy cold temperature--straight from the frigo. The ricotta cheesecake comes lying down, the better for attempting to cut through its hard, resistant crust. It’s too much work. Nobody finishes it.

I’m hoping these are just temporary glitches. L.A. never flags in its enthusiasm for Italian restaurants. If Pammolli can find its center and deliver authentic Italian fare in this charming neighborhood setting, it just may succeed where modern Chinese didn’t.

Pammolli, 9513 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; (310) 273-7588. Appetizers $8 to $14; pasta and risotto dishes, $14 to $28; main courses $15 to $28. Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Valet parking.