PUCCI'S ESCARGOTS, CANNOLI FINE; BUT IN BETWEEN, WELL ...

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

It's hard to believe, but perhaps the best dish experienced at Caffe Pucci in Northridge is really French, not Italian.

This spot, owned by distant relatives of the proprietors of the once-famous, long-gone Pucci's on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks and later Encino, is the former Caffe Zaretti. It's not exactly the kind of Italian we expect to find in a neighborhood trattoria-style cafe.

Listed as escargots Tirolese ($4.95) on the menu, these good, garlicky snails are a delicious starter at Caffe Pucci, and with which the crunchy house-baked focaccia pairs admirably.

Also surprising here is the house-baked cannoli ($3.50), one of the best renditions of this traditional dessert found this side of San Francisco.

Most restaurant versions of cannoli are refrigerated after purchased commercial tubes of crusty dough are filled with a flavored, fluffy, sweet ricotta cheese mixture.

Consequently, the diner receives a tough-textured cannoli stuffed with a spongy cheese filling.

Not here though. A Pucci's waiter insists that the cannoli shells are baked on the premises and stuffed per order. And they live up to their notices.

Now if only the food in between could rise to the level of the escargots and cannoli, Caffe Pucci could be an important dining destination rather than a standard neighborhood eatery.

Of its starter offerings, calamari fritti ($4.95) is merely a fair rendition, a bit too dry and rubbery, though the batter coating has a light and lively quality.

Better is the scampetti della casa ($4.95) with well-handled shrimp and a flavorful, garlicky tomato sauce.

Pastas tend to be ordinary, with angel hair Romana ($7.95) a dryish heaping of the thin noodles with mushrooms and cheese, pasta and salmon ($9.95) getting the worst rather than the best from overcooked pieces of salmon, and a deep bowl of ravioli in gorgonzola sauce ($8.95) a rather pasty, doughy and over-creamed creation.

Linguine with fresh clams ($8.95), preferably with the white garlic and oil sauce, wins the nod as the best pasta dish tried here, even though it won't make you turn cartwheels.

Meaty plates such as the house osso buco ($11.95), a respectable effort of the popular veal shank dish, and sausage and peppers ($10.95) are relatively hearty satisfactions and definitely safer.

Chicken Roma, a chicken breast recipe prepared with artichokes and only available at lunch, also gets the thumbs-up sign, presenting a combination of moist, well-textured, white chicken meat with a generous portion of tasty pieces of artichoke.

The fact that these rather inexpensive meals include a soup or salad isn't necessarily encouraging. The house salad, though sometimes drenched with dressing, appears to be a better choice than the soup, one time an institutional-tasting mixture of mushy pasta and beans, another time a wimpy spinach and vegetable offering.

As for endings, both the diminutive chocolate souffle ($4.95) and slab of somewhat tired tiramisu ($3.95) have a long way to go to catch up to the cannoli here.

THE FACTS

The restaurant: Caffe Pucci.

Where: 8856 Corbin Ave., Northridge.

When: Open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, for dinner from 5 to 9:30 p.m. nightly.

Recommended items: Escargots, osso buco, chicken Roma, linguine with clams, cannoli.

How much: Everything under $12. Beer and wine. All major credit cards.

Wine list: Limited selection of one sparkler, eight whites and 17 reds, no vintage dates (unnamed house chardonnay, chianti and merlot by the glass, half and full carafe). Eight reds and six whites priced under $20 and two Italian wines as low as $12. Corkage $2.50.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

Our rating: Two Stars for food; Two Stars for service; One Star for wine.