RESTAURANT SIGN HAS CLOTHES CALL : LIKENESS OF DAVID IRKS SOME DINERS.

Byline: John Woolfolk Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire

Michelangelo's David has met the Goliath of public prudishness in Capitola.

Some folks in this suburb by the sea say a likeness of the nude Renaissance sculpture on an Italian restaurant's new sign is unfitting fare for families.

One parent who blushed taking his kids by the painting of the boldly bare boy complained to the city, prompting city planners to suggest that Caffe Michelangelo give its David some duds.

Some neighbors quietly agree, saying they would prefer to see a fig leaf on the image of the immodest marble marvel.

``I just don't think it's appropriate to have it out like that,'' said a woman who lives nearby who declined to state her name. ``I think they could have been more tasteful. A lot of people do have kids and they're going to ask questions.''

Caffe Michelangelo owner Gaetano Balsamo says that's ridiculous. In his native Naples, he said, no one would make such a fuss over the phallus on a 16th century sculpture.

``This is culture, this is art,'' Balsamo said. ``These people, they should never go to Rome.''

Many of the restaurant's neighbors agree.

``It's meant to be a thing of beauty,'' said Diane Bridgeman, adding with a sigh: ``We have so little culture.''

Indeed, many are baffled at such blue-nosed sensitivity in this beachside Babylon. Capitola's culture lies somewhere between the mall and Margaritaville, and its downtown waterfront is a bacchanal of the barely clothed on balmy weekends.

``There are a lot of other things in Capitola that we should be scandalized about than that,'' said George Hehr, who lives across the street from the restaurant.

Balsamo, who opened his restaurant a year ago and named it after his hero, Michelangelo Buonarroti, said he commissioned the sign last month because no one noticed the one he had before. Judging by the reaction so far, the new sign is a success.

And Balsamo says he plans to keep it as it is. If Michelangelo's work is decent enough to adorn the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, he says, it ought to be fine for Capitola. He adds that the artist's original 17-foot-high David has been prominently displayed in Florence for centuries. Yet, the restaurateur contends, most people in his country are still virgins when they marry.

Capitola Planning Director Kathy Barbaro said Balsamo needs to apply for a new permit for the sign and the controversy over the current design will make public hearings necessary for approval.

``You and I might consider it art,'' Barbaro said. ``But most people can understand that some people might find it offensive and not in compliance with the community's standards.''