Homemade pasta and custom sauces at Garduno’s

There’s nothing quite like fresh pasta. If made correctly, the flavor is never bland and the texture never gummy. And yet it’s nearly impossible to find Italian restaurants that make homemade pastas like you find in Italy.

At Garduno’s Ristorante Italiano, a favorite neighborhood restaurant on East 17th Street in Costa Mesa, an Italian pasta machine cranks out 12 pounds of fresh pasta every day -- fettuccini, lasagna, angel hair, linguini and more. And to complement its southern-style Tuscan pasta dishes, chef and co-owner Mark Garduno prepares each sauce to order.

Custom sauces are his forte.

“I have customers who tell me about a sauce they had in Little Italy in New York,” Garduno said. “As long as they rattle off ingredients, I’ll duplicate the sauce for them.”

Garduno’s regulars are loyal -- some have dined here weekly since it opened 18 years ago. Mark even names sauces after customers. And regulars bring in postcards from their travels and ask Mark to recreate pastas sauces they tasted on vacations. Garduno pins their postcards around his kitchen as mementos.

Garduno’s serves homestyle Italian foods made with top ingredients.

“It just makes my job so much easier,” Garduno said. “You have to be really careful with preparation when you cook with low-quality products. I don’t want to spend hours pounding out low-quality veal to make it tender.”

Garduno serves the highest quality milk-fed white veal from Wisconsin.

“There’s nothing better than the veal we get,” he said.

It’s top-round, sliced and shipped exclusively for Garduno’s.

Excellent veal dishes at Garduno’s include vitello Julia (named after co-owner Julia Garduno) -- veal with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, rosemary and wine ($18.95); and vitello al limone -- veal with a simple lemon, butter and caper sauce ($18.95). All entrees come with choice of soup or tossed green salad and a choice of pasta or steamed vegetables.

When Mark and Julia Garduno took over the restaurant nearly two decades ago, in the former What’s Cooking location, Mark upgraded to more expensive premium ingredients. Instead of cockles, he buys littleneck clams; red snapper was replaced by Alaskan halibut and wild king salmon; and black mussels were substituted for New Zealand mussels. Chicken is preservative-free and fresh, and 50-pound blocks of pecorino Romano come from Italy. The high-quality ricotta is so creamy, it’s almost like butter. The ricotta is fabulous in cannoli, adding an undeniable creamy taste and texture. Even the cheese shakers are filled with a hand-shredded Parmesan-Romano blend.

And Garduno’s makes most everything from scratch -- only C’est Si Bon bread and spumoni is made elsewhere. The kitchen limits storage, so ingredients are always fresh.

“There aren’t any walk-ins, only a small refrigerator,” Garduno said, “so produce and seafood are delivered six days a week.”

Mark works side-by-side with his wife Julia, who takes to-go orders and serves guests. She also coordinates elaborate catering events for groups from 20 to 1,500. Julia also adds charming decorating touches such as red-and-white checked tablecloths and floral wallpaper, and she makes certain great Italian hits play constantly in the restaurant. Favorites include Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jerry Vale.

Mark cooks recipes from his family in Sicily and even has a small library of cookbooks that he’ll turn to for inspiration. He treasures his copy of “The Epicurean” by Charles Ranhofer, an 1893 edition.

“It’s the bible of cooking,” Garduno said. “Very old-school. Every detail of cooking is revealed.”

All pasta dishes are customized; guests select choice of pasta and sauce. Favorites include a custom sauce named after the Gardunos’ 14-year-old son, Vincenzo. It’s a combination of golden raisins, pine nuts, mushrooms, Marsala wine sauce and a splash of cream; and fruiti di mari, a seafood with light tomato sauce ($16.95).

Pasta choices include linguini, fettuccini, spaghetti, fusilli, rigatoni, cappelli d’angelo, tortellini and ravioli.

Garduno’s chicken lasagna is a local favorite. It’s a rich comfort meal of chicken, mushroom, artichoke hearts and cream sauce ($12.95). It was a special lasagna made for a catering event that became so popular that it’s now a staple.

The involtini di pollo, a stuffed chicken breast with veal, spinach and cheese in a cream and tomato mushroom sauce, is another excellent dish ($14.95).

Garduno’s serves a superb salmon with mustard, dill and artichoke sauce.

And for dessert try award-winning tiramisu.

Catering is available; just ask to see the take-out and catering menu.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626; or by fax at (714) 966-4679.

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Garduno’s Ristorante Italiano

* WHERE: 298 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa

* WHEN: Open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

* INFO: (949) 645-550520051125iqftcmknGREER WILDER / DAILY PILOT(LA)Julie and Mark Garduno, owners of Garduno’s Ristorante in Costa Mesa, make their own pasta daily.