Italian Restaurant Finds A Home At U Village

----------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurant review

XX Ristorante Piatti, 2800 N.E. University Village. ($$ 1/2) Lunch ($5 to $14) 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Dinner ($5 to $18) 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Lounge, full bar. Major credit cards. Smoking: lounge only. Reservations: 524-9088. -----------------------------------------------------------------

The expansion, upgrading and general gentrification of University Village has become an ongoing phenomenon. A laid-back neighborhood shopping complex now sports trees, statuary and circling cars looking for places to roost. Corporate success has its price.

A perfect metaphor in microcosm for the Village is Ristorante Piatti. Open less than four months, it has found a ready and rapidly growing clientele. It's an emerging Italian restaurant chain (11 units) founded by two non-Italians, Bob Harmon and Claude Rouas of California, with a corporate executive chef - Steffan Terje - who is a Swede.

If all that sounds unpromising, rest assured. Piatti (which means "dishes or plates" in Italian) may surprise you. It's a lot better, and a lot more personal, than most concepts dreamed up in boardrooms. I know of two local food professionals (one an executive chef) who eat there regularly.

Piatti looks Cali-Mexican: floor tiles, peeled pine furniture, adobe colors with pastel murals. The chain is still primarily based

in California (nine units), having started in Napa. Besides Seattle, the only other non-California venture is in Denver.

The first thing you notice about the place is that it smells as good as it looks. There's a reason. The open hearth wood-burning oven emits aromas of spit-roasted chickens and freshly tossed pizzas. The last thing you may notice - two hours later - is that your hair and clothing may faintly smell like a spit-roasted chicken or a Pizza Rustica. Piatti, despite an occasionally open front door, seems to be having some adjustment problems with its smoke exhaust system.

Nevertheless, I went there five times before writing this review - mainly, I must admit, because I liked it.

Fritto Misto is mighty fine

Start with the Fritto Misto ($7.95). A mixed fry of calamari, rock shrimp and "seasonal" vegetables (wonderful slices of breaded fresh fennel), napped with squiggles of lemon aioli, it's outstanding.

With it comes a basket of warm bread, including nicely seasoned, slightly oily, squares of focaccia. Instead of butter, a portion of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, laced with fresh herbs, red pepper and minced garlic, is inverted from a serving cup onto a dipping plate.

Another arresting starter is the Berretto di Portobello ($5.95), grilled marinated giant mushroom caps, quartered and served with arugula, shaved Parmesan and balsamic vinegar.

The Mozzarella e Broccoli Rabe ($5.95) combines warms chunks of fresh mozzarella around a slather of quite overdone Italian broccoli, the whole affair made tasty (but less appealing visually) by the addition of balsamic vinegar to the greens - which ended up deep brown.

Imaginative pies

Pizzas ($7.50 to $9) are imaginative and decorative, but not flaky. The Pizza Nostra, for example is a white pizza, topped with Carpegna Prosciutto, mushrooms, mozzarella and mellow buds of roasted garlic. I thought the crust needed another minute on the fire; the flavors were great, but the pie lacked texture.

Another popular choice is the Pizza Rustica, with house-made sausage, roasted pepper strips, onion, sage, fontina cheese and sliced potatoes.

There's a huge array of pastas ($9 to $14) perhaps none better than the Pappardelle Fantasia ($13.95), wide strips of freshly rolled saffron pasta noodles, tossed with a half-dozen prawns, arugula, cubes of deep-red fresh plum tomatoes, garlic, and a lemon-butter white wine sauce.

Cannelloni "Mamma Concetta" ($12.25; whoever she is) blends too much ricotta with too little roast veal and beef, plus porcini mushrooms, spinach and mozzarella. They're pleasant and filling, but a bit bland.

A similar vote for the Osso Buco alla Milanese ($17.95), a pretty veal shank topped with mixed vegetables (notably tomatoes), wine-braised and served alongside a saffron risotto and inside a rim of gremolata. Looked gorgeous; lacked robust flavors, although salt and pepper helped.

The Petto di Pollo al Mattone ($11.75; chicken grilled under a stone) appears to be Piatti's signature dish, a marinated chicken breast served with garlic-mashed potatoes and caramelized onions drizzled with balsamico.

I haven't tried any of the desserts, which is reason enough to return.

(Copyright, 1996, John Hinterberger. All rights reserved.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- John Hinterberger, who writes the weekly restaurant review in Tempo and a Sunday food column in Pacific, visits restaurants anonymously and unannounced. He pays in full for all food, wines and services. Interviews of the restaurants' management and staff are done only after meals and services have been appraised. He does not accept invitations to evaluate restaurants.