A LA CARTE : LAST-MINUTE PUMPKIN POSSIBILITIES.Byline: Larry Lipson Some restaurants go full out on Halloween. Others are more restrained on Fright Night, merely offering a pumpkin-inspired dish. Here are a few restaurants worth last-minute consideration for those with pumpkins on their mind: The Broiler broiler a young (about 8 weeks old) male or female chicken weighing 3 to 3.5 lb. Address: 8815 Tampa Ave., Northridge. Phone: (818) 993-0666. Cuisine: American. Comments: As much a sports bar as a regular restaurant, this is the perfect place for a party. Halloween night features a costume contest, a raffle and 100 pumpkins around the place, each one carrying a prize. Picks: Go for the chicken or the ribs. Sorry, no pumpkin pie pumpkin pie traditional dish, especially at Thanksgiving. [Am. Culture: Flexner, 68] See : America until later next month. Ca' Del Sole Address: 4100 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. Phone: (818) 985-4669. Cuisine: Italian. Comments: This rambling, rustic Venetian house of cucina has a fine kitchen, a romantic patio, a lively jazz bar and one of the Valley's deepest wine cellars. Picks: A regular favorite here, the mezzaluna (moon-shaped) pasta dish features several of them on a plate, each stuffed with pumpkin and served in a sage and butter sauce. California Pizza Kitchen California Pizza Kitchen (NASDAQ: CPKI, known within the food industry as CPK) is a casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California, Address: 16101 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Phone: (818) 907-7783. Cuisine: Californian-Italian. Comments: So far, the corporate chefs have not put pumpkin on a pizza. But don't rule it out for the future. Picks: What they have done for 11 consecutive years now is provide pumpkin cheesecake during the holiday season. Gaetano's Address: 23536 Calabasas Road, Calabasas. Phone: (818) 223-9600. Cuisine: Italian. Comments: This is one of the few West Valley restaurants that draws the movie colony crowd from ``over the hill'' in Malibu. So don't be surprised to see a famous celebrity at the next table. Picks: Owner-host Gaetano Palmeri gives you five pumpkin reasons to visit his restaurant: pumpkin ravioli with brown butter Noun 1. brown butter - clarified butter browned slowly and seasoned with vinegar or lemon juice and capers beurre noisette butter - an edible emulsion of fat globules made by churning milk or cream; for cooking and table use and sage, pumpkin soup, pumpkin vegetable puree pu·rée or pu·ree tr.v. pu·réed or pu·reed, pu·rée·ing or pu·ree·ing, pu·rées or pu·rees To rub through a strainer or process (food) in a blender. n. served as a vegetable option and an accompaniment to the special entree of the day, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake. Gio Cucina Napoletana Address: 15826 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Phone: (818) 905-7446. Cuisine: Italian. Comments: This delightful little second-floor restaurant recently lowered its prices - and they were already fairly moderate. Picks: Pumpkin tortelloni with sage sauce may be the best dish on the menu. This is the fluffiest pasta item on the boulevard. Il Tiramisu tir·a·mi·su n. A dessert of cake infused with a liquid such as coffee or rum, layered with a rich cheese filling, and topped with grated chocolate. Address: 13705 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Phone: (818) 986-2640. Cuisine: Italian. Comments: Chef-owner Roberto Carboni always comes up with gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. culinary surprises. Picks: Carboni makes an entree dish of ravioli stuffed with pumpkin, ricotta ri·cot·ta n. 1. A soft Italian cheese that resembles cottage cheese. 2. A similar soft cheese made in the United States. and Parmesan and offers patrons a choice of two sauces, one being the popular butter and sage mixture, the other a sweet mascarpone mas·car·po·ne n. A fresh soft Italian cheese with a high butterfat content, made from cow's milk enriched with cream. [Italian, augmentative of dialectal mascarpa, whey cheese. cheese sauce with pine nuts and walnuts. Out Take Cafe Address: 12159 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Phone: (818) 760-1111. Cuisine: Californian-American. Comments: You'll be amazed at the quality and presentation of the dishes here for surprisingly low prices. Picks: It's a menu favorite here: the Asian chicken sautee contains Japanese eggplant, Japanese pumpkin, baby bok choy bok choy or Chinese mustard Brassica chinensis, one of two types of Chinese cabbage. It has glossy dark green leaves and thick, crisp white stalks in a loose head. Its yellow-flowering centre is especially prized. See also brassica; mustard family. and sliced chicken breast sauteed in Asian soy-ginger sauce and garnished with both Asian sprouts and julienned carrots. The dish is presented dramatically as a miniature Mount Fujiyama. Also, look for pumpkin soup on Halloween night for sure. Posto Address: 14928 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Phone: (818) 784-4400. Cuisine: Italian. Comments: If you have any particular pumpkin recipe in mind, call chef Luciano Pellegrini several hours in advance and he'll be happy to cook it for you. Picks: Currently, Posto is serving an appetizer rendition of pumpkin lasagna with cream sauce cream sauce n. A white sauce made by cooking together a mixture of flour and butter with milk or cream. Noun 1. cream sauce - white sauce made with cream . CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) no caption (Pumpkin Pie) (2) From soup through dessert, Gaetano Palmeri gives diners a pumpkin-packed experience at his Gaetano's restaurant in Calabasas. |
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