A LA CARTE : WHITE ASPARAGUS.

Byline: Larry Lipson

It was early last year. It's even earlier this year.

White asparagus generally gets to us around the end of April. But the unripe - thus white - asparagus was ready for the market early in March and has been appearing on local menus during the past few weeks.

That's due to the fact that these days it comes from South America and South Africa, which have earlier seasons than the usual Dutch, German and French products.

Incidentally, the circular white asparagus is deemed better than the oval type.

White asparagus, more acidic, a somewhat bitter version of the sweeter green type, is highly prized in Europe and is a favored seasonal food item there.

Presented by chefs in several ways, this expensive vegetable - sometimes costing more per pound than lobster - provides a delicious diversity on some of the city's top tables.

Here are a few restaurants that serve white asparagus:

Dining Room/Hotel Bel-Air

Address: 701 Stone Canyon Road, Bel-Air.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Californian-French.

Comments: Chef Gary Clauson offers white asparagus several ways. He calls the white asparagus spears that never have seen sunlight ``queens of darkness.''

Picks: Clauson serves them gratin as an appetizer with smoked salmon and Mornay sauce ($15) or with a pickled quail egg and a truffle vinaigrette ($16). He makes a white asparagus soup with hazelnuts ($10) and puts them in a salad with baby greens and a horseradish vinaigrette. They appear in entrees with king salmon, melted leeks, a lemon beurre blanc and Sevruga caviar ($28) or as a bed for foie gras with a whole roasted quail stuffed with wild mushrooms ($30).

Four Oaks

Address: 2181 Beverly Glen Blvd., Bel-Air.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: French-Californian.

Comments: Chef Peter Roelant annually cooks several white asparagus dishes during the season.

Picks: Two of the most popular ones are a special appetizer of a pretty arrangement of chilled white asparagus spears dressed with a lime-and-vodka-boosted hollandaise sauce and topped with Sevruga caviar ($17.50) and a luncheon dish of white asparagus rolled in a carpaccio of salmon flavored with lime mayonnaise ($15). The roll is sliced on the bias and fanned over lemon-scented, mixed baby lettuces.

Knoll's Black Forest Inn

Address: 2454 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: German.

Comments: This landmark German restaurant annually features white asparagus. This year the white asparagus menu begins Saturday. Prices listed below are approximate because the restaurant's actual cost had not been determined at press time.

Picks: The chef makes a number of dishes. Among them are cream of white asparagus soup with riesling wine ($5.50), white asparagus and ham salad with sliced apple and herb dressing ($14.50), cold white asparagus with chopped egg and green herb sauce or with sliced smoked salmon and herb mayonnaise ($21.50 each). Served hot, the white asparagus comes as a half-pound in weight with parsleyed boiled potatoes and either hollandaise sauce or drawn butter ($21.50).

Matterhorn Chef

Address: 13726 Oxnard St., Van Nuys.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Multi-European.

Comments: Chef Ueli Huegli uses the best quality white asparagus every year. And he sells every spear of it to a devoted clientele.

Picks: Uegli delivers it warm with hollandaise sauce or drawn butter, or cold with vinaigrette ($15). At the same price it may be paired with a fried egg. Diners may add boiled potato or Polonaise-style egg at no extra charge or ham or prosciutto at extra cost.

Rockenwagner

Address: 2435 Main St., Santa Monica.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Californian-International.

Comments: Chef Hans Rockenwagner describes white asparagus as the queen of vegetables and has been serving them for 12 years.

Picks: His white asparagus ``cappuccino'' ($8.50) is made with prosciutto and asparagus sticks. He steams it and serves it with blood orange hollandaise sauce, new potatoes and dry-cured beef ($14.50). Steamed white and green asparagus is paired with crayfish cannelloni and lobster sauce ($15.50) and the steamed version also can be had with smoked salmon, potato blinis and caviar ($18.50). In the most traditional manner, a full pound of steamed white asparagus ($27.50) comes with new potatoes, vinaigrette and mayonnaise plus a choice of house-smoked salmon ($8.50), a petit filet mignon ($12.50), a grilled salmon steak with basil sauce ($11.50) or with sliced prosciutto ($9.50). As a post digestif, Rockenwagner suggests Asparagus Schnapps.