Andy Chase

Spumoni Restaurant: 14533 Ventura Blvd (near Van Nuys blvd), Sherman Oaks, California, 91423

(818) 981-7218

The problem with Ventura boulevard (and greater Los Angeles area in general) is that there are just too many little stores and restaurants jam-packed next to one another for miles and miles; we've been living in the San Fernando Valley for five years and we're still finding places that we've overlooked all this time.

Such as Spumoni Restaurant. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but it wasn't until I was picking up food from another nearby restaurant that I noticed Spumoni. They had some menus available outside, and I took one for future reference. Last night we decided to give them a try. Kim picked up a couple of entrees on her way back from an errand, so I can't comment as to the "dining experience" at Spumoni, but we were very pleasantly surprised by the food.

It's been my experience at most (affordable) Italian restaurants I've been to in Los Angeles that the pasta tends to be overdone, and sauces nondescript; maybe not straight out of a Smart & Final no. 10 can, but pretty darn close. Another problem when getting food to go from these places is that the pasta and piece of meat (if you get a dish like chicken parmagiana) get all soggy in transit, turning what might have been an adequate dish in the restaurant into a disappointment at home.

I ordered the chicken parmagiana entree; chicken parm is usually a pretty good measuring stick. Kim got a shrimp scampi-type dish, and we used a coupon for a free serving of spumoni ice cream.

Excellent, excellent, excellent! Both dishes used penne pasta instead of noodles, and it was done to perfection; Al Dente, to quote those stereotype-filled television ads. The marinara sauce is definitely made from scratch, the chicken was nice and tender, and the parmagian and mozzarella cheeses were amazing; I noticed buffalo mozzarella in another dish on the menu, and I suspect that's what they also use on top of the chicken parm. The parmesan cheese also tastes like it was made with non-cow milk, although I couldn't say what.

We only ate about half of our portions because the food is so filling; it will be great reheated for lunch tomorrow. We wanted to save room for the spumoni, which we split. The first thing we noticed was the way they had packed the spumoni for us; the slice was placed on a separate piece of plastic inside a plastic container whose bottom was lined with pieces of ice to keep it cold on its way home.

What an obvious idea, and yet I've never seen another restaurant do it... it really feels like you're being taken care of when a restaurant goes to such lengths. As for the spumoni itself, what an amazing balance they've struck between rich flavor and light consistency. The slice of spumi had four separate layers: Strawberry, vanilla, pistachio, and chocolate. The chocolate has a rich, dark flavor nothing like the chocolate ice cream you'd get from a Baskin-Robbins. The pistachio has a very delicate flavor which is actually a little bit difficult to pick up at first if you're used to the strong artificial flavors of American pistachio ice cream or pudding. The vanilla and strawberry layers were similarly delicate but rich at the same time. Even the maraschino cherry in the middle tasted better than most.

Good Italian food just about a mile away! I can't wait to give their pizza a try.