RESTAURANT REVIEW : Good Food, Nice Time at Modo Mio

Three of us are celebrating a birthday at Modo Mio, a stylish neighborhood Italian restaurant in Pacific Palisades. It’s a cold Friday night, the winds are blowing, the sky outside seems particularly black, but within Modo Mio’s rubbed, Tuscan-pink walls, it’s bustling and cozy. Fat red candles light each table. A wall mural depicts musicians serenading a woman. An enormous, beautiful pine breakfront displays a wealth of wine and olive oil. We have just finished our appetizers--baked lobster, carpaccio, grilled Portobello mushrooms--and our waiter, a gracious Italian fellow, is clearing our plates. “I will take these away and bring you clean plates and clean underwear,� he says.

“Oh,� my friend Holly says calmly. “We won’t need that for a few more courses.�

The waiter walks off. We look wide-eyed at each other and start to giggle. The waiter reappears. His face is bright red. “Did I just say what I think I did?� he asks. He apologizes profusely, abjectly, tries to explain he meant silverware and finally gives up and giggles with us.

I would remember--and love--Modo Mio for that moment alone, but the food is also terrific and the rest of the staff is also charming and warm. Many customers are clearly regulars; they greet the hosts, have reserved preferred tables, wave to neighbors and generally act as if they’re home away from home.

In this age, where Tuscan-inflected food has become the food we see most often in restaurants, Modo Mio’s “cucina rustica� regular menu offers few surprises except, perhaps, for consistent quality. The menu, however, is augmented by up to 15 specials a night.

Chewy rings of calamari in a hearty, caper-spiked tomato brodo is just the right starter on a chilly evening. A plate of assorted grilled vegetables, sliced paper-thin, scented with woodsmoke, has been quickly and deftly grilled, except for the potato, which is still crunchy-raw.

The grilled Portobello, cut in chunks, is meaty as, well, meat. A diminutive baked lobster tail has an alluring sweetness but it’s overcooked. My favorite appetizer, however, is a simple artichoke salad that’s essentially a slaw made from the raw baby thistles, flakes of Parmigiano, good olive oil and lemon juice.

Another recommended stick-to-your-ribs cold weather dish is a special of papardelle sauced with a dense braise of venison that has a remarkable depth of flavor. Spinach and ricotta-filled ravioli, perfectly al dente and dressed in a pink sauce are good, if unremarkable by comparison. Risotto with porcini mushrooms has a bit more wine than necessary, but the fragrant mushrooms are gloriously slippery and plentiful.

Entrees are worth ordering for the roasted potatoes alone: Golden, crisped, sprinkled with rosemary, they’re earthy and exemplary. The chef, I’ve noticed, tends to cook meat and fish a tad on the well side, so it may be best to order a bit rarer than you normally would. A veal chop is more medium than I normally like, although it is delicious. A special Porterhouse, also far more cooked than the requested charred rare, is enormous, a map of meat encompassing most of a dinner plate--a few inner precincts are pleasingly pink.

A large portion of ahi tuna, ordered very rare, is also overdone but tasty. Somehow, a beautiful plate of salmon “scaloppine,� four generous filets in butter, lemon and capers, escapes this fate: It is cooked more gently, the flesh desirably moist, translucent.

The dessert tray offers an alarmingly uniform row of cakes and tarts, all seemingly cut from various long rectangular loaves.

We try a tart lemon and a creamy coconut, which are just fine. Still, I wish desserts here were more compelling: This is one place I don’t mind lingering.

* Modo Mio, 15200 Sunset Blvd. (enter on La Cruz), Pacific Palisades, (310) 459-0979. Open 7 days for dinner only. Beer and wine served. Visa, MasterCard and American Express accepted. Dinner for two, food only, $36-$98.