HOT SPOTS : ITALIAN DELIGHT.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Toto, 5658 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, [phone]. It's a sleek, modern, mini-cafe and pizzeria, recently enlarged, that serves crispy pizzas, perfect pastas, goodies with mussels and clams, all with a very strong, authentic Italian accent, and all at low prices. And yes, it really does deliver its pizzas by limo.

Splendor under glass Bistro Garden at Coldwater, 12950 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, [phone]. The main dining room's magnificent skylit ceiling and fancy setting draws the cognoscenti from the hills and dales of the Valley. A turn to French-accented fare is an appealing improvement.

Candy is dandy Candy's Meson, 226 E. Alameda St., Burbank, [phone]. This Cuban-Spanish kitchen first beguiles you with the best darned white rice and black beans in the West and goes on from there. There are good lunches here for as low as $4 and many dinner entrees well under $10.

Under priced, over par Tavern on the Green, 10400 Glenoaks Blvd., Sun Valley, [phone]. You eat comfortably in a country club setting, and you eat well here for amazingly low prices. Would you believe an all-you-can-eat Friday night fish fry for $6.95?

Marvy Marvin Modada, 8115 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, [phone]. Creative chef Sam Marvin, one of L.A.'s new culinary luminaries, previously cooked for the stars at the Monkey Bar. Here at his own place he earns raves for his eel cakes, scallop and leek tart, and steak with quail eggs - all artfully presented and described with touches of humor.

Boffo Italian

Ca'Brea, 346 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, [phone]. Chef Antonio Tommasi, culinary padrone of Locanda Veneta, Ca' del Sole, Allegria and Il Moro, reigns here with moderately priced cucina rustica that'll knock your socks off. The packed dining room proves it nightly.

New wave bistro L.A. Farm, 3000 W. Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, [phone]. Provocative, L.A.-style comfort food with a hint of a Gallic accent in a casual, hip, farm-themed setting. Ex-La Serre chef Jean-Pierre Peiny is host-owner.