Basilico’s is Buono

John Volo

My wife and I took my parents and brother (all in town for the

holidays) to dinner at Basilico’s Pasta e Vino. We signed the waiting

list posted outside and braved the cold for 20 minutes before being

seated inside the cozy (35-40 persons) dining room. We settled in

with a round of Moretti’s (an Italian beer) and a basket of warm

bread before eyeballing the menu.

The menu surprised me -- not a single veal entree and only one

chicken dish. There were, however, several sandwich options (for

dinner?) and plenty of pasta.

For appetizers, we ordered caprese salad ($7.95) and risotto cakes

($4.50). The caprese is a plate-long pattern of thickly sliced

mozzarella overlapping a full basil leaf, overlapping sliced roma

tomato, all lightly drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The

risotto cakes (Italian rice in the shape of a mini bundt cake) are

coated with a balsamic vinaigrette sauce that creates a caramelized

texture outside. The inside remains soft and creamy. It was served on

a bed of spinach leaves and arugula. Both appetizers far exceeded my

expectations.

I was surprised once again: this time by the enormity of our

dinners (all served in huge bowls). I knew, even for a big eater like

myself, finishing my cavatelli pasta with Milanese ($10.95) would be

challenging. The cavatelli, a canoe-shaped pasta, was tossed in an

olive oil and garlic sauce. The Milanese (much like the beef cutlets

my Italian grandma made for Sunday dinner) is a thinly sliced steak,

breaded and deep-fried. I squirted on some juice from a lemon wedge,

took one bite and knew this was too good not to finish.

My dad and brother both enjoyed the seafood linguini ($15.95).

Shrimp, scallops (large), calamari (tentacles and all) and clams (in

an open shell) mix with linguini in what is advertised as a light

tomato sauce but actually resembles a spicy Fra Diavolo sauce.

There’s an abundance of seafood and flavor in this culinary delight.

My mom (an admitted shrimpaholic) chose the linguini with shrimp

($12.95). On top of this huge mound of linguini (in an olive oil and

garlic sauce) I saw but a few shrimp. Like an archeologist digging

for ancient artifacts, I carefully forked through the linguini in

search of lost shrimp. Voila! I uncovered a plethora of hidden

shrimp. This slightly peppery dish should satisfy all shrimp lovers.

My wife selected Basilico’s one and only chicken dish: the chicken

parmesan ($11.95). In my opinion, chicken parmesan is chicken

parmesan, no matter where you go. This, however, was chicken breast

on steroids -- completely super-sized. Try as she did, my wife could

not come close to finishing it. This dish comes with either linguini

or penne and red sauce.

Of course we complemented our dinner with a bottle of wine.

Nineteen dollars was a reasonable price to pay for a Ruffino Chianti,

a good-tasting wine.

While our server was clearing the table and asking if we wanted

dessert, we queried him as to the whereabouts of our salads that

allegedly (I say allegedly because we never got them) come with the

meal. Quicker than a gondolier breaks into song, our server put the

blame on the busboy and asked if we were still interested in the

salads.

With precious little room left in our stomachs, it was either

post-dinner salads or tantalizing desserts.

This was a no-brainer.

We got the homemade cannoli ($3.50), the homemade tiramisu ($4.50)

and the spumoni ($2.95). The tiramisu, served in a sundae cup and

topped with cocoa, was absolutely incredible.

The cannoli was large, the chocolate chips plentiful, but the

filling bland. The palate-cleansing spumoni (a trio of chocolate,

strawberry and pistachio ice cream) mixed in some chocolate chips and

pistachios -- a nice touch.

We really enjoyed our evening out, and thanks to Basilico’s

affordability, we even had a little something left over to pay the

baby-sitter.

* JOHN VOLO is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have

comments or suggestions, e-mail hbindy@latimes.com.