Published November 2009

Plenty has changed since Oct. 1, 1979, the day Antonio Cagnolo opened his showpiece Santa Ana restaurant with its Italianate setting. “Dallas” was our TV obsession, and mortgage rates hovered at 11 percent. Today, “American Idol” is the rage, and home loans can be had at 5 percent. Antonello’s? It endures—surviving nouvelle cuisine, fusion fever, carbophobia, and steakhouse mania.

From the start, the restaurant’s plush ambience, genteel service, and terrific cuisine have been catnip to O.C.’s power-dining elite. Movers and shakers continue to fill its best tables, even though the competition and economy are notably fiercer. On recent expeditions, the same aura of special occasion and privilege take hold the moment we’re led through the hushed, plush warren of linen-draped tables set with gleaming crystal. Tux-clad waiters confer quietly with eager patrons appraising the oversize menu and voluminous wine list. Arched doorways, iron balconies, and trompe l’oeil artwork mimic the look of an old Italian village—unchanged since my first visits during the first Bush administration.

And as always, it’s easy to feel like an outsider when you see well-heeled regulars get effusive air-kissing and rampant pampering. And though the typically excellent food is ample compensation for my uneasiness, one visit is particularly exasperating. A wine soirée is under way in the private courtyard, and the large facility buzzes with competing private events. Our waiter is able but perfunctory, and he rushes instead of spoiling us, forcing our table to request essentials such as pre-dinner cocktails, the wine list, and more time to order.

The night’s appetizer special, vitello tonnato, is a worthy rendition of the classic chilled veal slices under creamy tuna sauce. It easily bests an unexciting Caesar salad. Capellini alla Diavola (angel hair pasta with fiery tomato sauce) tastes better minus the tough, overcooked shrimp. Spaghetti alla Carbonara, the timeless dish with pancetta, onions, egg yolk, and light cream, is as rich and toothy as any. Washing it down with half a bottle of Landmark Pinot Noir makes for a divine breakfast-as-dinner. Dessert doesn’t happen because the check arrives first—one sure way to tame a sweet tooth.

Aside from having to resist his snappy pace, the meal is mildly agreeable.

Another time, in the company of a VIP, service is spectacular, almost prescient. We’re brought a procession of dishes from the day’s specials, including a salad of creamy burrata and glistening tiny tomatoes followed by a perfectly medium-rare sliced culotte steak.

Cagnolo prides himself on obtaining the finest ingredients for executive chef Franco Barone’s kitchen. Veal is a reliable gauge at an Italian restaurant, and on my next visit, Antonello shines brightly on that score—the mighty veal chop a triumph of simplicity and restraint. The scaloppini dishes are expertly rendered classics. My longstanding crush on the bold saltimbocca preparation has given way to a new appreciation of the impossibly tender Milanesa with its sizzling hot jacket of crispy bread crumbs. In contrast, the accompanying roasted potatoes and asparagus taste mundane and obligatory.

But oh, those pastas. I could happily order these and nothing else. Four are made in house: gnocchi, ravioli, raviolini, and the delicate lasagna sheets used for the sublime rotelle (rolled) pastas. The plump miniravioli used in the signature Ravioletti di Mamma Pina with Bolognese sauce are made fresh daily, a worthy tribute to Cagnolo’s muse and mother, Pina. The dried pastas can be splendid, too, as demonstrated by the old-school pairing of linguine and clams.

Sweets are a strength here so give the dessert cart a serious inspection. All are delightfully fresh and house-made from traditional recipes. A top-notch fresh-fruit tart glazed with apricot has a rich cookie crust. Torta alla Nonna is nearly perfect—a stack of sponge cake, vanilla mascarpone cream, and mocha mousse heavily encrusted with toasted pistachios.

Thirty years ago, Antonello was sexy and new, and attention came easily. Today, Antonello sustains its robust middle age with a proven devotion to authentic and high-quality cuisine. Solid, comforting Italian food never goes out of style, nor does the kind of flattery and adulation the restaurant affords VIPs and those who dine with them. But think how many more regulars it could attract if it made everyone feel just as special.

BEST DISHES
Pastas (fresh or dried), veal dishes, and daily specials. Ask about the three-course off-the-menu lunches and dinners.

PRICES
Lunch from $7 to $23; dinner from $8 to $37.

BEST TABLES
Seek out the secluded back (north) alcove for quiet privacy, tables against the main room’s south wall for scene-watching, and the bar banquette for relaxed noshing.

WINE FINDS
Sommelier Steve Ebol’s rotating list of specials, such as Ridge Zinfandel 2006 ($75) and Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($52). On Fridays, take 40 percent off any bottle from a great collection of 10,000.

TIP
Many of the house-baked pastries also are sold at Antonello Espresso Café, Cagnolo’s coffee bar on the second level of South Coast Plaza, next to Coach Leatherworks.