Sostanza's Loyal Clientele Enjoy Broader Menu

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

XXX Sostanza Trattoria, 1927 43rd Ave. E. ($$ 1/2) Dinner ($6.95 to $21) 5 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No lunch; closed Sundays. Beer, wine. Major credit cards. No smoking. Wheelchair accessible. Reservations: 324-9701. -----------------------------------------------------------------

It's a charming, odd little dining room, long and narrow, but magnificent pieces of Seattle's culinary history have been written there.

Sostanza in Madison Park was taken over by chef Lorenzo Cianciusi a few months ago. He tacked a Trattoria onto the name and into the menu, broadening what essentially had been a high-end Tuscan menu to include less formal but "authentic Italian cuisine from various provinces in central Northern Italy."

Now the magnificence is Lorenzo's.

The space first gained prominence several years back when French chef Dominque Place moved in and created what many believed was the best French cooking in the city.

Cianciusi, until recently the young chef/partner at Assaggio downtown (a spot that also is thriving), moved into Sostanza, after the departure of another dedicated young chef, Erin Rosella.

Through all of that, the clientele has remained loyal and almost unchanged.

Smart, chic, knowledgeable. "It is so Madison Park," said one friend. "And so Broadmoor," observed another. The kitchen now, however, is neither - just plain, hearty Italian. Well, not so plain.

Antipasti ($7 to $9) include a couple of fine hot plates: a grand Crostini de Polenta al Funghi, with points of grilled polenta topped with sauteed portobello mushrooms in a red wine sauce dotted with shallots and garlic. And a timbale of grilled eggplant, pureed artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers, topped with a white wine-lemon reduction and a coulis of red peppers.

Among the cold starters is an exceptional Carpaccio of thin-sliced beef tenderloin on a bed of tossed arugula with a mustard dressing, under a scattering of caper berries and ribbons of sliced parmigiana cheese.

Do try the Fresh Green Bean Salad ($4.95), about ten perfect beans criss-crossed over a bed of marinated, thin-sliced fennel with fresh-cracked pepper, olive oil and a bracing aioli sauce.

But by far the best way to begin a dinner at Sostanza, especially on a cold, rainy night, is with a steaming bowl of Zuppetta Tuscana (6.95), a rousing cannelini bean soup, livened with cubes of pancetta, red onion, a rich chicken broth and thickened with large, chunky croutons of a rustic Italian bread. With a grating of cheese and a sprinkling of fresh-cracked pepper over the top, the earthy peasant dish, augmented with a couple of sips of a young red wine, is sheer culinary poetry.

Pastas and risotti ($8.95 to $14.95) are well represented. The Pappardelle al Ragu di Vitello ($14.95) with broad, chewy home-made noodles, is tossed with a meaty sauce of ground veal (a bit beefy, two of us thought) with portobello mushrooms, shallots, barolo wine and finished with a luxurious splash of cream.

Even more rich is the Risotto ai Funghi (also $14.95), wild mushrooms and sweet onions cooked with arboria rice in a stock of chicken broth and red wine, then blended at the end with Marsala, butter and parmigiana cheese. It comes perilously close to dessert.

Penne alla Grappa ($9.95) is a house favorite. The quill-shaped pasta is combined with green onions, pancetta, green peppercorns and grappa (strong Italian brandy made from wine lees), tomato sauce and a touch of cream almost as a binder.

Loved the Ravioli al Burro Bianco ($12.95), ricotta-stuffed ravioli sauteed in butter with sliced fresh leeks, sage, veal consomme, cream (yes, he uses a lot of it) and about a dozen hazelnuts for texture. Galletto al Forno ($15.95), a half baby chicken, is flash grilled, then finished roasting in the wood-burning oven, and sauced with lemon, white wine, garlic and rosemary.

A recent Pesce del Giorno was a thick slab of California swordfish ($17.50) done simply and respectfully, with olive oil, salt, pepper and a hint of thyme. It could not have been better, accented with a deft mound of spaghetti squash, wood-roasted red peppers and quartered roasted red potatoes.

Cianciusi no longer does his noteworthy pizzas. "The wood-burning oven is too small. We tried it when we first opened. But we needed the oven space for our roasts. From time to time, we'll do them as specials."

Had room for dessert only once. But a glistening round of classic creme brulee ($4) was almost as yummy as the mushroom risotto. ----------------------------------------------------------------- (Copyright, 1997 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.