L.A.’s Amalfi Coast

If a call went out to cast an Italian restaurateur and a thousand guys showed up, Francesco Grillo would get the part. He possesses a splendid accent and photogenic Mediterranean charm. He also really seems to care whether his guests eat well.

Grillo has a lot at stake. He recently bought the Farfalla space on La Brea, where he once worked as a waiter, and, after some renovation, has reopened it as Amalfi Ristorante with his father, Filippo, as executive chef.

He’s sexed up the dining room with pigment-stained walls and a huge fireplace tinted a warm stone color. A floor-to-ceiling organdy curtain separates the main dining room from the smaller back room. On the sound system, the Gipsy Kings or something of that ilk may be playing, and sometimes live music leaks down from Room 5, the club upstairs.

As owner and maitre d’, Francesco Grillo is here, there, everywhere -- seating guests, advising on the menu, apologizing to a TV icon for the fans who’ve approached her for an autograph and a photo opportunity. He’s doing everything in his power to make people feel welcome.

Including giving them familiar food. Despite the restaurant’s name, the menu is more L.A. Italian than Amalfi Coast.

Authentic Southern Italian cooking would be too much to ask, I guess; Filippo Grillo has been in this country too long. Still, there are a handful of dishes reminiscent of that exquisite part of Italy where buffalo mozzarella is grilled on lemon leaves, fish is served up whole and pastas are tossed with seafood straight from the Mediterranean.

Fritto misto -- fried squid with a few shrimp and, oddly, broccoli florets -- is crunchy and light, and the tomato sauce that comes with it has a touch of hot chile. A salad of sliced red and yellow organic tomatoes and bufala mozzarella, lavishly seasoned with oregano, captures the taste of the end of summer. Tagliolini alla costa Amalfitana tosses the thin noodles with a mix of clams and mussels in a spicy tomato sauce.

But main courses tend to the predictable. Along with a fine pounded, breaded veal chop and braised beef in red wine, the menu proposes seared ahi in a tomato and basil sauce, and haven’t we had enough of that? Go with the whole Dover sole from the wood-fired oven instead.

Roasted Cornish hen is served with fine pan-roasted potatoes and hanks of spinach, but I can’t help wishing the kitchen would be just a bit more adventurous. Who wants to go to a ristorante to eat a chicken breast or yet another filet mignon?

From the number of people tucking into just that, it’s more than you’d think.

*

Amalfi Ristorante

Where: 143 N. La Brea Ave., L.A.

When: Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; dinner 6 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Full bar. Valet parking.

Cost: Soups and antipasti, $6 to $11; salads, $6 to $12.50; pizzas, $9.50 to $12; pastas, $11 to $13.75; main dishes, $15 to $26; desserts, $6.

Info: (323) 938-2504