DINING OUT; OLIVA TRATTORIA PLEASANT REMINDER OF YESTERYEAR.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

Like those good old pizzerias of yesteryear, the smells immediately seduce those entering the new Oliva Trattoria/Pizzeria/Italian Grill on Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.

This is the former La Casona, or at least half of it. On a recent Friday night it was packed and people were waiting to get in.

Only a couple of nights before, it was the usual slow midweek situation here as in most other local restaurants. But in all fairness to Oliva, it was so new at that point, having been only a few days in business, that perhaps nobody had even noticed it yet.

Oliva is owned by Tancredi De Luca and Enrico Trova, who have successful restaurants in Beverly Hills (Amici) and Santa Monica (Amici Mare).

They bring a certain professional quality to this colorful little eatery. Even with this strong Friday night showing, the small kitchen appeared to be working well under full speed while the waiters and support staff looked knowledgeable and confident under pressure.

This, of course, will help Oliva, at least initially, because there's obviously no dearth of competitive Italian food outlets in its immediate vicinity.

Also an aid to this newcomer is its simple but inviting concept.

A one-page menu lists 10 antipasti items, three soups, seven pizzas, 17 pastas and half a dozen additional entrees, four of them chicken, one a steak and one salmon.

That's it.

But the twist is that the antipasti, pasta and one other main-course item may be ordered as family-style platters for three or more customers at a listed price per person.

Consequently, an antipasto plate like the one I ordered one time called ``antipasto di salumi e crostino'' priced at $6.95, could be ordered as a well-stocked platter for three at $4.95 per person.

This arrangement works best with pastas. For example, a predictably popular spaghetti dish with rock shrimp, calamari and king crab in a spicy tomato sauce goes for a reasonable $9.95 per single order. Now, if three people order it, it's $6.95 per head, totaling $20.85 or only 95 cents more than the regular two-person price.

But this didn't affect me, because we were a twosome.

So the aforementioned antipasto plate of thin slices of prosciutto, salami, bresaola and a heaping of yellow and red roasted sweet peppers along with a Gorgonzola-topped crostino (crust of bread), provided a welcome starter nosh with sips of chianti while waiting for a pizza to arrive.

The more Italianate pizza, a nicely thin-crusted job, with a welcome restrained amount of mozzarella, a hint of rosemary and a topping of that good prosciutto ($6.95) was preferred over the smoked salmon pizza ($7.50) with sour cream and Maui onions. This may be an indirect influence of Wolfgang Puck, who made this type of pizza famous at Spago.

The choice was a good one, certainly big enough and not overly expensive. In fact, there were a couple of slices left to take home.

On other nights there have been such gratifying dishes as a meaty lasagna made with turkey ($8.50); rigatoni with asparagus tips, smoked chicken, mozzarella and tomato sauce ($8.50); a whole broiled chicken with a balsamic-rosemary sauce ($11.95); and a moist piece of grilled salmon ($12.95) with a tangy lemon and Dijon mustard sauce.

Also nicely done are Oliva's soups ($3.95 each), particularly the tomato-basil bowl and the thick lentil potage topped with julienned fresh spinach.

With its moderate individual tabs and attractive family method of pricing, Oliva and its tasty fare should become a winner.

THE FACTS

--The restaurant: Oliva Trattoria.

--Where: 4449 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks.

--When: Open for lunch from noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, for dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

--Recommended items: Pizzas, soups, rigatoni with smoked chicken and asparagus tips, turkey lasagna, grilled salmon, whole flame-broiled chicken.

--How much: Starters and pizzas from $4 to $7, pastas and entrees from $7 to $13, desserts $4.50 each. Full bar. AE, MC, V.

--Wine list: Single page of 24 wines ranging from $13 to $33 a bottle. The carafes of Italian chardonnay or merlot equal about 4 1/2 glasses and cost $15. Corkage: $3.

--Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

--Our rating: Three stars for food; three stars for service; two 1/2 stars for wine.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: Chicken and fresh tomato pizza and a seafood and spaghetticreation are among the menu offerings at Oliva Trattoria.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

Box: THE FACTS (see text)