SO MANY SAUCES, SO MANY SOUPS VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF GIOVANNI RISTORANTE.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

The menu of the new little Giovanni Ristorante in Woodland Hills, which replaced Verdi, is pretty much the tried and the true, the traditional American-Italian fare.

It's all there, from the spaghetti and meatballs to baked mostaccioli.

But credit Giovanni's kitchen with some good cooking, especially in the appetizer, seafood and chicken entree categories.

And huzzahs for its addictive house-baked focaccia.

Admittedly, this is no dreary, boring, strictly red sauce Italian.

In fact, the kitchen prides itself on the number of sauces you can choose from with your De Cecco pasta dishes.

There's the fresh marinara sauce made daily, a mushroom version of the same made with fresh mushrooms, a fresh meat sauce, a puttanesca sauce (mild or spicy), a spicy arrabbiata sauce, a basil pesto sauce, a fresh tomato and basil mixture, a creamy alfredo, an aglio e olio (olive oil and garlic), a primavera of vegetables made with either the marinara or the aglio e olio preparation, a fresh chopped tomato and basil with garlic topping and other mixtures like broccoli and basil with garlic and oil or sausage with marinara.

But it's dishes like a rendition of chicken marsala ($11.95) and cioppino ($18.95) that separate Giovanni from the run-of-the-mill, neighborhood, family Italian cafe.

The boneless chicken breast here is cooked flawlessly. This means it is moist and tender, not dry and tough. It means that every bite ensures a softness and lilting flavor, allowing additions like that of the marsala wine richness to come through. Allowing the crunch of each fresh mushroom on the tooth.

That cooking expertise with breast of chicken also shines through in the house cacciatore dish ($11.95) where the marinara sauce is enhanced primarily with mushrooms, sweet bell peppers and onions.

Veal marsala ($14.95), though it doesn't impress as much as the chicken version, shouldn't disappoint, because the veal medallions display the necessary modicum of softness.

And in the seafood arena, it's the cioppino that satisfies most, closely followed in gratification by a refreshing, cold, lemony salad of scungilli and calamari ($7.95) and in third place a decent bowl of fresh littleneck clams ($8.95) in a steaming white wine and garlic broth.

The hearty cioppino brings to the fore a heaping of milky-white chewable calamari, fresh clams and mussels en shell, crunchy shrimp and several large pieces of tasty fish in an herbal tomato broth boosted with clam juice. Giving the soupy bowl plenty of extra heft is a generous portion of al dente linguini, obviously added at the last minute to avoid mushiness.

Too bad, though, that this isn't the case with the house minestrone soup ($3.95) which has good taste but possesses extremely mushy pasta. On the other hand, the stracciatella ($4.95) is a fine version of Italy's ``little rags'' egg drop chicken soup with the usual accompaniments of baby spinach and angel hair noodles.

Although we only tried the above two, an Italian kitchen that makes five soups has to be lauded.

Giovanni also makes a clam soup, a pasta e fagioli soup with cannellini beans and uses the same beans in an escarole and bean soup ($4.95 each).

Though it doesn't bother with osso buco, any lamb dishes or an expensive veal chop, Giovanni serves up gratifying Naples-style steak piazzaiola ($18.95) with a New York cooked to order topped with a garlicky tomato and mushroom sauce.

On the walls of the narrow dining room are vintage black and white photos of Giovanni's family.

Looks like they enjoyed life with gusto.

And would expect patrons of a restaurant with their name to savor the food with the same exuberance.

GIOVANNI RISTORANTE

Food: Three stars. Service: Three stars.

Where: 21926 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills.

Hours: Open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. nightly, to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Recommended items: Calamari fritti, steamed clams, calamari and scungilli salad, stracciatella soup, chicken marsala, chicken cacciatore, cioppino, tiramisu.

How much: Starters from $4 to $9, pastas and entrees from $8 to $19, desserts $4 each. Beer and wine license pending. AE, MC, V.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

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Photo:

The calamari, clams, mussels, shrimp and fish in the cioppino at Giovanni Ristorante is given a welcome boost by a large portion of al dente linguini.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer