DINING OUT -- MARY FURR

If you get it right the first time, don’t mess with it. It’s what

restaurant owner Larry Sullivan and his wife Mary Jean of Toscany,

Huntington Beach, believe and what their loyal clientele have counted on

since they opened their first and only restaurant and hired cook Jose

Hernandez six years ago.

You enter the double storefront and settle at the long banquette

divided by white lattice. It’s at once open and breezy but also warm and

friendly. The welcome is the same --Larry Sullivan brings you wonderful

yeasty rolls just out of the oven powered with Parmesan that come with

each lunch and dinner.

Everything is made in the tiny kitchen beginning with a

fresh-as-summer garden green salad with generous handfuls of sliced ripe

olives, tomato and pepperocini. Or try the minestrone full of vegetables

with lima and kidney beans. If you only want a salad lunch, there’s a

super antipasto ($6.50) with salami, ham, cheese, olives and hard boiled

egg.

Pastas ($5.50 to $7.95) are varied -- the ravioli ($6.95) are big

round pockets stuffed with beef or cheese and brought sizzling from the

oven. Be careful as they can be very hot, which is also true of the

cannelloni (lunch $5.50, dinner $6.95). Two large tubular pasta in a

small casserole are drenched in a thick marinara and topped with melted

mozzarella. This is a traditional sauce -- smooth with pureed tomato,

bits of onion and olive oil and lots of flavor. Recipes are based on

those from Mary Jean Sullivan’s family who owned Geno, an Italian

restaurant in Milwaukee.

This is also the sauce that covers the spaghetti (lunch $4.95, dinner

$5.50) and to which we added two big fat Italian sausages ($1.95). They

are the meaty firm kind, flavorful, not too spicy, with a faint flavor of

anise.

Larry Sullivan says a cornerstone of Toscany is the pizza (11-inch to

15-inch, $7.95 to $14.95) with 15 possible toppings. We went for the

special ($10.95 to $14.95), a beautiful thing to behold. It’s New

York-style with all the good meats you’d find in an Italian kitchen. The

crisp bottom and thick texture have enough body to absorb the flavors of

ham, sausage and salami with slices of earthy mushroom, crisp bits of

bell pepper and onion. Wholly satisfying. Eat in, take out, delivered

pizza knows no season.

Desserts are rich slices of heaven. Outstanding are a dense New

York-style cheese cake and spumoni, about four inches high with layers of

chocolate, vanilla and green ice cream with candied fruit, two different

crusts----one on the side of nuts, one on the bottom of crushed flavored

pastry.

Toscany, in a long mini mall next to Michael’s Arts and Crafts, has a

neighborly feel that manages to serve wonderful pasta and pizza from its

tiny kitchen.

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

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

FYI

Toscany

WHERE: 7568 Edinger Ave.

PHONE: (714) 848-9385

FAX: (714) 848-2606

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday.

MISC.: Delivery available.