A LA CARTE IT'S HOT SOUP SEASON.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Those cold fronts that we're facing now, with or without rain, call for steaming hot soups as a prime comfort. You might want to consider these offerings in choosing a restaurant during these cool, rainy weeks.

California Canteen

Address: 3311 Cahuenga Blvd. West, near Universal City.

Phone: [phone] or [phone].

Cuisine: French-Italian-Californian.

Comments: Ultra-charming, European-looking bistro, it's the hangout for local show-biz folks. Don't be surprised to see Kevin Costner at a corner table near the bar.

Picks: The tomato-basil soup at $4 a bowl here is a doozy. It's intense in flavor and about as good a version as you'll find anywhere.

Ca' del Sole

Address: 4100 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Italian.

Comments: Around the corner from Universal Studios, this rambling, rustic ristorante, a cousin in the Ca'Brea-Il Moro-Locanda Veneta-Padri family, is an East Valley hotspot.

Picks: A hearty cold-weather favorite here is the old-fashioned Italian-style chicken, potato and spinach soup at $4.95 a bowl, which is just like that lovingly spooned soup Venetians enjoy when it rains there.

< Cinnabar 

Address: 933 S. Brand Ave., Glendale.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Californian.

Comments: Sometimes forgotten, this is one of Glendale's best, regularly producing imaginative, distinctive fare.

Picks: The current regular potage offering is a full-flavored black bean soup with caramelized onions and cilantro cream priced at $5 a bowl.

< Mishima

Address: 12265 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Japanese.

Comments: New noodle cafe with numerous hot soup-noodle options.

Picks: The entree-size soup-noodle bowls with soba (buckwheat) or udon (white flour) noodles range from $5.50 to $8.25, and offer a variety of flavor and added ingredient options. Diners can add egg, soybean curd, chicken, beef, curry, mushrooms, vegetables or seafood.

< Out Take Cafe

Address: 12159 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Euro-Californian.

Comments: Uptown food at downtown prices at this narrow, always-busy cafe.

Picks: You won't find a better winter comforter than the popular Ukranian-style beet and cabbage borsch with potato at $4.95 a bowl. A tad lighter is the deep bowl of won ton soup at $5.95 with carrots, potatoes, baby sprouts, ginger and broccoli-stuffed won ton dumplings in steaming vegetable broth.

< Thai Sate

Address: 11044 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Thai.

Comments: The skillful women chefs here produce consistent, superior Thai food at low prices.

Picks: Of several outstanding soups available a favorite is traditional tom kha kai at $3.50 or $5.50 per order. It contains moist chicken pieces and crunchy straw mushrooms in a coconut milk broth, managing to be jarringly spiced and creamy smooth at the same time.

< Yujean Kang's

Address: 67 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.

Phone: [phone].

Cuisine: Chinese.

Comments: This (and the West Hollywood location) is not your everyday kung pao place. Chef Kang's kitchens produce gustatory marvels regularly.

Picks: A perfect winter starter is the picture-in-the-snow soup ($5.95) made with rich brown stock and filled with smoked duck, julienned chicken, enoki and black mushrooms. The bowl arrives dramatically capped with snow white meringue illustrated with a winter scene.