A quaint Italian Bistro

DINING OUT

La Fontana Ristorante, a slip of a restaurant that seats 46 is in the

Scott Plaza on Beach Boulevard just past Ellis Avenue. In this

stretch of storefronts it’s a star, a friendly place that brings the

authentic taste of the northern cuisine of the Piedmont area to its

devoted patrons.

Owner/chef Corrado Gianotti’s parents owned a small hotel in Italy

where Corrado first became interest in cooking and where he attended

cooking school in San Remo. Coming to the United States in 1987, he

has been executive chef at Tutto Mare in Fashion Island and chef at

restaurants in Disneyland, but always he has yearned for a place of

his own. “A small restaurant with the luxury of a big restaurant,” he

says.

This he has created at La Fontana Ristorante with its dozen or

more clothed tables and mural walls with faux windows looking out on

the Italian landscape. Presently open in the evenings, candles on the

tables and fairy lights above enhance the romantic ambience. It is so

like a little cafe we used frequent for dinner outside Rome --

neighborly with home style food.

The menu reads like an elementary lesson in Italian but gracious

server Stefano helped with selections. My preference was Ravioloni

della mia Cucciole, ($14.50) which is served with an excellent salad

of radicchio (red leaf Italian chicory) and various greens -- baby

spinach, curly leaf, romaine -- tender but firm and slick with a

virgin olive oil and red vinegar.

The ravioloni were five round green pasta pockets filled with

minced spinach and cheese in a deep red puree tomato and herb sauce,

a taste that lingers. Stefano brought a basket of homemade bread,

thick and dense, different from the usual lighter bread and poured

olive oil and dark balsamic vinegar in a small bowl for dipping which

enhanced the family feeling of sharing.

Another selection Rigatoni Casarecci ($14.50) has three-inch

ridged pasta tubes mixed with a wonderful creamy sherry sauce,

Italian sausage meatballs and thick sliced porcini mushrooms. The mix

of spicy sausage and earthy mushrooms coming together in the sherry

sauce and clinging to the ridged pasta makes a perfect marriage. It

looks ordinary but packs a culinary wallop.

Ready for dessert? Chef Corrado does these too. We selected

Tartufo all’Amorena ($6.95), a round scoop of vanilla ice cream

concealing a sherry gelatin center and covered with chocolate

sprinkles beside a sliced strawberry and served on a scrolled plate.

La Fontana, the name means “fountain” but also the fountain-like

peak a chef makes in which to pour egg and fluid to make pasta, is

like a child to Chef Corrado. He wants it to be perfect and he has

plan for its future. On June 25 it will be an event, Tour of

Italy-Rome, a paring of wine and food from that area. (Call for

required reservations)

And, as his menu settles, he hopes in the fall to offer lunch.

With lots on his plate, he offers much to his diners.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. Call her at

(562) 493-5062 or e-mail hbindy@latimes.com