DINING OUT -- MARY FURR

o7 Baci f7 (Italian for kiss) may be your romantic choice for

Valentine’s Day. The eye-catching restaurant on Beach Boulevard between

between Garfield Avenue and Ellis Street, Huntington Beach, was designed

and painted by Franco Masci, an artist brought from Italy by owner/chef

Angelo Juliano to re-create the streets of an Italian village.

Inside, the illusion continues as you pass through arches to intimate

dining areas -- ours hado7 Langolo degli innamoratief7 -- “lover’s

corner” scrolled on the wall.

We chose to begin with the classico7 antipasti freddi f7 (cold

appetizer)o7 prosciutto e melonef7 ($6.25), six slices of juicy

cantaloupe topped with very thin slices of aged ham from Parma. It’s

dewdrop fresh and sets your taste buds up for whatever follows.

Another choice is fresh o7 insalata di spinacif7 ($4.95). Like the

melon, this is a salad generous enough to share -- the oil-slicked leaves

are tossed with small pieces of real bacon and loads of sliced mushrooms

in a homemade dressing -- combined with a bowl of o7 pasta e fagiolif7

($4.50), white bean soup, it could also be a great lunch.

If the choice is pasta,o7 lasagna pasticciataf7 ($11.50) is my

choice. It consists of layers of firm and slightly chewy pasta, plenty of

lumpy ricotta cheese and meat sauce topped with mozzarella cheese and

baked in its own ceramic skillet. Baking in the dish keeps the food hot

throughout the meal.

This is not so with another pasta dish,o7 rigatoni all’

abbruzzesef7 ($12.95) short, grooved tube pasta with homemade sausage

and meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce. Only barely warm, it cooled off

quickly, which robbed the dish of its flavor. It deserves better.

Italy, surrounded as it is by water, does fish well as in the o7

salmone allo champagnef7 ($16.95), a thick generous cut in a delicate

creamy wine sauce. It exemplifies another slogan written on one of the

arches -- o7 Se magna e se bene in allegriaf7 -- “Eat and drink in

happiness.”

The separate dessert menu pictures manyo7 coupesf7 or ice cream

topped with fruit. There’s o7 coupe melbaf7 in a soda glass with ice

cream, peach slices, lots of whipped cream and a dash of liqueur. A

traditional Sicilian dessert is o7 cassatta Sicilianof7 ($4.50), a

slice of semi-frozen ice cream-like dessert with o7 zabaglione f7 (egg

yolk and sugar with white wine and Marsala liqueur). The slender slice

carries an intense sweetness. A o7 creme brullef7 ($5) has a thin

crisp crust over very rich creamy custard -- also an excellent choice.

Juliano, who trained at the Culinary Institute in Lucerne,

Switzerland, opened the award-winning Baci eight years ago after stints

in England, Bermuda, New York and Georgio’s on Balboa Island.

In addition to the two charming dining rooms, Baci has a lounge with a

pink marble bar and soft piano and flute music in the evenings.

It’s easy to see why Baci is one of the most romantic restaurants in

Huntington Beach -- a place someone special will want to “kiss” and tell

about on this Valentine’s Day.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI

Baci Italian Restaurant

ADDRESS: 18748 Beach Blvd., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 965-1194

FAX: (714) 965-4106

HOURS: Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday; dinner: 5 to

10:15 p.m. daily MISC.: Credit cards accepted