RESTAURANT REVIEW : Cent’anni: A Classy Place With a Price List to Match

At first glance, Cent’anni looks like the generic fancy restaurant one sees in movies and in New Yorker cartoons: pale-pink walls, potted palms, black booths and banquettes. The entrance, up a few tiled steps, leads into a pretty and spacious bar.

In early evening, the room glows with the light of the setting sun streaming in the high windows. Other than the quality of the light, there’s no hint that the western wall sits right on the Pacific Coast Highway . . . unless, if one happens to look up at just the right moment, a bus rolls by those high windows, with the tops of passengers’ heads in view just a few feet away.

Cent’anni is not a beachgoer’s kind of place, but draws from a well-heeled crowd from Santa Monica Canyon and Pacific Palisades. The older folks dress more formal; those under 50 less buttoned-up. We spotted a star of the film “Diner” in jeans and a purple turtleneck.

In addition to generic classy good looks, Cent’anni has charming Italian waiters backed up by a vigilant and efficient busing staff. The service is gracious, and virtually impeccable. The food itself is contemporary Italian, with some old standby veal and chicken dishes thrown in.

I was a little confused, however, when it came to ordering. One night we were handed menus and the waiter told us about four or five specials. Then, he continued, “We also have . . .” and proceeded to list a dozen or more dishes. It seemed a phenomenal feat of memory. When we finally opened the menus, we discovered he’d not only recited about a third of the listed dishes, but that most of the so-called specials were also menu items.

Was he listing his preferences? Was he under orders from the chef to push certain dishes? What if we wanted to order something he hadn’t mentioned? Would it be available? Would it be any good?

As it happened, three of the four items we ordered were things he had suggested and they turned out just fine. I tried to order grilled radicchio with smoked mozzarella cheese, but the waiter immediately suggested I try the grigliata , or grilled mixed vegetables, instead. The vegetables were indeed luscious, pulled from the grill the moment they ceased being raw.

The carpaccio, topped abundantly with arugula, was a bit lemony, but nothing some additional olive oil couldn’t balance out. I loved the chicken diablo , which had aromatic pockets of chopped rosemary, garlic and hot pepper tucked under the skin. The pesce misto was made up of grilled salmon, tuna, calamari and those dramatic-looking but invariably disappointing langoustines, which resemble small lobsters or giant shrimp and don’t taste nearly as good as either. I was surprised to find that Cent’anni has some of the most expensive pastas I’ve seen: Except for two basic $8 red-sauced pastas, they were $14.50 to $17. Such prices are discouraging, possibly intentionally so, for anyone who might want to slip in for a quick, light, inexpensive dinner. I ordered a $17, capellini with arugula, tomato, and shiitake mushroom, and while there was no stinting on the shiitake , there was no real character or compelling reason to the dish.

On our next visit, we had a different waiter, and while he did not give such a lengthy recitation as the previous one, he did quite aggressively push the veal saltimboca . We let ourselves be pushed, partly because he had a great deal of persuasive charm and partly to find out if the dish, which was listed on the menu, was indeed particularly transcendental this particular night. It wasn’t.

Again, we tried to order the grilled radicchio and again, the waiter immediately suggested the grigliata. This time, we persisted and of all the dishes we tried at Cent’anni, this one really knocked us out. A big hank of juicy, slightly crunchy, and compellingly bitter grilled radicchio was blanketed under hot, melted smoked mozzarella. “It’s like an Italian fundido ,” said my friend, “only more fun.”

As we were devouring it, a waiter (or possibly a manager) we hadn’t seen before came by and asked how we were doing. “This is absolutely delicious,” I said. “Have you ever eaten it?”

He grinned knowingly. “Oh, yes,” he said. “I must eat it at least every other day.”

Aha! Now we knew why the waiters tried to discourage us from ordering it: Being smart men, they were protecting their supply!

Cent’anni Ristorante, 100 W. Channel Road, Santa Monica, (213) 454-3939. Dinner seven nights. Full bar. Major credit cards. Valet parking. Dinner for two, food only, $17 to $68.