The Gossiping Gourmet: Create a pizza - and win a prize

Good deals for meals are popping up everywhere around town, especially with the new small-plate concept. Romeo Cucina is no exception.

Their happy hour, which lasts all night Mondays and from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, features nine selections for only $6.95 each. Calamari fritti, eggplant parmigiana and penne arabiata, for example, make for some tasty snacking or a light supper.

Mondays through Wednesdays you can create your own pizza or pasta from a long list of classic ingredients for a mere $9.95 and you will also be eligible to win a weekly contest for the best creation.

At the end of the month, chefs Enzo, Antonio and Vittorio will select two grand prize winners and each will receive dinner for two, as well as having their original pizza or pasta appear on the specials menu.

To our knowledge, Romeo has the only wood-burning oven in town and when it comes to pizza there is nothing to compare with the crust that comes out of that special fiery hot spot. We also think that their great olivada is the best in town, and it’s served with very crusty Italian bread.

While trying to resist another piece slathered with that garlicky olive spread, we awaited the arrival of our frittura mista. This is kicked up fried calamari with the addition of shrimp, tuna and swordfish. It was lightly battered and nicely browned but it was an adventure trying to find the tiny shrimp and little bits of fish in the sea of calamari.

The fish was very good, and we were sorry there wasn’t more of it. Also on the platter was a little bowl of classic marinara for dipping and lots of lemon wedges. If you like your sauce spicy as we do, there’s a handy container of chili flakes on the table.

Another old favorite, ortolina for two, is a platter of marinated and grilled vegetables: radicchio, endive, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and asparagus.

The carciofi ripieno is the old-fashioned kind of stuffed artichoke, topped with garlicky breadcrumbs and filled with chopped artichoke hearts and tomatoes in a parsley vinaigrette.

If you like seared tuna, try scottata di tonna. This sliced and peppered version is served on a bed of endive, radicchio and arugula with sesame vinaigrette.

The red, white and green salad mélange that used to be the tri-colored salad was an homage to the Italian flag with radicchio, arugula and endive. Nowadays, these pricey greens have been relegated to a supporting role in a salad that is mainly romaine (perhaps a nod to the recession). Only the light raspberry vinaigrette remains the same. We miss the peppery, slightly bitter version that epitomizes this classic salad.

We were eagerly looking forward to that pizza from their wood-burning oven as we had great memories of the one we ate several years ago when we last reviewed Romeo.

So we were disappointed and puzzled when our mushroom pizza arrived without the mushrooms or the feta cheese that we had asked for. Furthermore the crust was very soft, undercooked and had no signs of ever having passed through the fire.

The waiter said there had obviously been a misunderstanding in the kitchen and he would be happy to put the mushrooms and cheese on it and put it back in the oven or else make us a new one.

Thinking a new one would take too long, we opted for the redo. The second version was still pallid and the bottom was still soft. It had been clearly reheated in a regular oven; in fact we suspected it had been made in the regular oven to begin with. Also, still no feta.

Our waiter apologized and insisted on starting another from scratch. This time we saw the chef compose the pizza and slide it into the wood oven under the watchful eye of our concerned waiter.

Surprisingly, it was at the table in five minutes and just what we were hoping for — well worth the wait and the trouble. This time the crust had the dark brown splotches and the crispiness of a great pizza. It was topped with a generous portion of shiitake, oyster and mixed wild mushrooms punctuated with the salty feta on top of the mozzarella — molto bene!

We usually never get beyond pasta in Italian restaurants, as main courses tend to be simple grilled dishes.

The selection of pastas here seems very authentically Italian, including faro (spelt) pasta, which appears commonly on menus in Italy but not in Laguna.

We love it because the whole wheat grain has a nice tooth without the heavy taste of American whole wheat pastas; served here with a selection of vegetables and a simple garlic and olive oil sauce. If you’ve never tried this one, we recommend it.

Their take on spaghetti and meatballs is tagliatelle alla carne rustiche with a delicious tomato ragu of ground filet and little baby, country style meatballs.

Timballino for two is straight out of the film “Big Night,” a pastry shell filled with short pasta tubes, sun-dried tomatoes, porcini mushrooms, zucchini and mozzarella cheese in a light pink cream sauce.

After the timballino there will be no room for dessert but otherwise you might want to try selva nera, sponge cake soaked with liqueur and filled with chantilly cream; or frutti di bosco, short pastry covered with berries, currants and lightly whipped cream.

We made room for torta della nonna. This lemon cream tart was more custard flavored than lemony and was topped with pine nuts and confectioners sugar, a bit sweet but quite tasty.

Frequent eaters can join their new club. If you come five times, you get $15 off your next meal and 20% off orders to go. Thursday nights are Wine Nights, featuring 50% off wines by the glass and bottles up to $60. Live entertainment is presented Thursdays through Sundays.

If You Go

WHAT: Romeo Cucina (949) 497-6627 www.romeocucina.com

WHERE: 249 Broadway

WHEN: Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Dinner: 5:30 p.m. to late night Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to late night Saturday and Sunday

PRICES:

Appetizers: $7.95 to 14.95

Entrées: $19.95 to $29.95

Desserts: $6.50

WINE:

Bottles: $24 to $198

By the glass: $6.50 to $11.50

Corkage Fee: $15

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at themarkos755@yahoo.com.