Baci proves far better than dining at home

dining reviewIt’s the holiday season and most people are thinking of gifts they’re going to buy for family and friends, but there’s nothing wrong with pausing for a moment to give yourself the gift of a meal that you don’t have to cook or clean up after. A great place to take a slightly decadent break from the kitchen is Baci Italian Restaurant, a boxy and unassuming building on Beach Boulevard that is home to a dimly lighted haven of gustatory satisfaction.

The restaurant is about 15 years old -- one of the oldest Italian eateries in Huntington Beach, owner Angelo Juliano says. One secret to his longevity may be authenticity: He imports ingredients such as cheese and prosciutto from Italy.

One of the first things I noticed and appreciated on my visit was that the dining room is spacious. On a recent Sunday night, the restaurant wasn’t crowded, but even if it had been full, the tables were far enough apart that you wouldn’t be jostling between chairs and hearing everyone’s conversations.

My companion and I skipped appetizers and just ordered dinner because we were starving, and while we waited we were served the usual basket of bread with oil and vinegar to dip it in. Even the bread was exceptional -- it was crusty on the outside but warm and fluffy inside. It helped tide me over, along with the glass of house merlot I ordered.

About the wine ... if you’re feeling frugal or just want one glass, you’re pretty much confined to a few house whites and reds, because everything else comes by the bottle.

The restaurant’s décor may not be cutting-edge, but I thought it was charming. The walls are painted to look old and cracked, as in some crumbling Italian villa, and they’re also decorated with Mediterranean scenes and Roman ruins. As we munched bread, my companion and I began talking about Italy, France and other places we’ve been or would like to go.

And then, the food. I’m still drooling as I remember it.

I chose rigatoni served with asparagus and a creamy sauce made with gorgonzola cheese, one of a handful of dishes with no meat or fish -- for the vegetarians out there -- and it was terrific. Gorgonzola is one of those pungent cheeses that tend to be overpowering, but this sauce had just enough bite tempered with the creaminess of the sauce, the chewiness of the pasta and the freshness of the asparagus. I wasn’t even tempted to shake pepper on it, as I do with about 90% of what I eat.

For my companion, it was one of the night’s specials, cannelloni alla port ofino, seafood-stuffed crepes in a creamy tomato sauce. After a few bites he promptly pronounced it “the best thing I’ve eaten in a long time.”

It was served with some mixed vegetables and potatoes, which also were tasty -- my dinner mate demanded that I try a potato chunk, which was almost crispy on the outside but moist and buttery inside. Everything was so good, I suspect we may have licked the plates if they hadn’t been taken away promptly after we finished eating.

The wait staff, in fact, was just attentive enough without hovering at the table. Our water glasses stayed full, and when we finished all our bread we got a fresh basket.

I was nearly stuffed and ready to slump down in the booth patting my belly, but in the interest of serving the review-reading public I decided to order dessert. I know tiramisu is an old Italian standard, but since my companion had never had it, I went with that rather than something more unusual.

Of course it also was delicious -- the spongy cake layers alternating with creamy and sweet filling and a sprinkling of cocoa on the top.20051215irgs0fknKENT TREPTOW / INDEPENDENT(LA)Baci Italian Restaurant on Beach Boulevard offers fine Italian food.