RESTAURANTS : There’s No Scent of Cliche at Laguna’s Aromatico

Northern Italian cooking has become a cliche in a lot of restaurants, but it’s still fresh at Aromatico. This beautifully restored restaurant, formerly Ron’s of Laguna, is the latest venture of Franco Maniaci, known to Orange County restaurant-goers as the owner of Sapori in Tustin and Newport.

With Aromatico, Maniaci moves up to the majors. Shropshire-born head chef Tony Corke and his assistant, Stefano Terzi, come to Laguna from Bergamo’s celebrated Dell’Angelo, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. That restaurant has supplied some of the best Italian cooking in America--chefs Angelo Auriana of Valentino (Los Angeles) and Luciano Pellegrini of Posto (Sherman Oaks) are both alumni of Dell’Angelo.

Laguna has long wondered when this Tudor-style manor house, with its sculptured garden and luxurious interior, would have a kitchen worthy of it. When traffic is light on PCH, a warm evening in this garden can be transcendentally delightful. Who could resist the lush fragrance of jasmine mingled with rosemary, sage and salt sea air?

The rooms are just plain gorgeous--pale yellow walls offset by dark wainscoting and a striking mantelpiece. The prime seating is on understated floral banquettes half-hidden in tiny, intimate alcoves. The free-standing tables are pleasant too, affording a view of the restaurant’s impressive art collection.

Now that the restaurant is gaining a reputation, it has begun to fill up on weekends like the Ron’s of old, pitching the noise level at a dull roar. Most Laguna restaurants have the same problem; at least it’s still possible to carry on a conversation here.

The waiters, mostly from France and Italy, guide you through your meal with mannered smoothness. The only problem I’ve found is in the wine service. The wine list features a lot of big-ticket bottles from Piedmont and Tuscany, but amazingly, it doesn’t reveal their vintages. Our waiter had to make four trips to the bar for us, finding out the year of various wines we were considering.

Chefs Corke and Terzi have put together the most creative Italian menu this side of Melrose Avenue. Yes, you will find carpaccio, fried calamari and capellini al pomodoro at Aromatico, but those dishes are beside the point when you can get polenta with truffles, homemade ravioli alla Bergamasca and rabbit marinated in red wine and roasted. If this kitchen can be faulted, it is only in making a few of the dishes too French. In Italy, many restaurant chefs do feel the need to use cream sauce and cognac, but their grandmothers would surely disapprove.

Richness works in the kitchen’s favor at times. When polenta is listed at $13.50, it had better deliver, and this one does. Imagine a mound of polenta and melted cheese on a bed of wild mushrooms scented with the perfume of white truffle. Ah, splendidissimo .

Calamari dorati alle erbe is herb-dusted calamari, the rings and tentacles crisp as bacon, with a pot of marinara sauce to dip them in. Vitello tonnato is a classic version of this Piemontese dish of veal in a subtly creamy tuna sauce, sprinkled with capers.

Bruschetta di pane Saraceno ai tre aromi , however, misses the mark. The idea of the three different bruschettas (tomato, olive and Gorgonzola) is inspired, but the toast is soggy by the time it reaches the table. Another miss is duck salad with pancetta . The menu says the duck is shredded, but it actually comes sliced, fanned out in the usual way on butter lettuce, the lot smothered in an overly sharp mustard vinaigrette.

Insalata Cesare con pesce is an intriguing idea. We’ve all seen the Caesar under siege, corrupted by free-form toppings such as Cajun chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. Aromatico adds baked halibut and boiled potatoes. It’s an eccentric take on salade Nicoise that works.

Chefs Corke and Terzi are at their best with pastas. The waiter will recommend casoncelli (ravioli) alla Bergamasca, and I suggest you take him up on it. These diaphanous pasta pouches contain a filling of ground meat, spinach and raisins, with which the topping of bacon and sage butter works beautifully.

Spinach fettuccine alla Cassia pairs wide green noodles with a delicate goat cheese sauce. The delicious risotto alla Trevisana , with a crunch in every bite, is enlivened by radicchio, shrimp and sharp grated Parmesan. And if you really want to get fancy, there’s tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and blueberries. In this place, who needs angel hair?

The entrees suffer occasional close encounters with France. Duck breast served rare in Port sauce? Too trendy. Poached paupiettes of sole with shrimp in pink peppercorn sauce? Too refined.

On the whole, you’re better off with rustic stuff like osso buco (the braised veal shanks blanketed with grated carrots, onions, celery and garlic) or the marinated rabbit, which the chefs make when they can get rabbit. But some of the more sumptuous dishes are good too, such as the tender filet of beef tenderloin in a rich Barolo wine sauce.

When the main courses are done, the sumptuousness extends to the desserts. Torte Aromatico is a rich chocolate mousse pie, with a crust lined with caramel sauce and bananas. Don’t miss the crackly-topped raspberry creme bru^lee , the fudgy molten chocolate souffle or my favorite, a tiny timballo of sweetened mascarpone cheese draped with fresh pear slices.

Aromatico is moderate to expensive. Antipasti are $4.75 to $13.50. Paste are $8.50 to $14.50. Secondi are $13.50 to $19.50.

* AROMATICO

* 1464 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.

* (714) 494-5819.

* Open daily. Lunch, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner, 4 to 10:30 p.m.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa.