MARY FURR -- Dining Out

If a summer cold or pesky allergy has got you in its grip, head for

Lino’s Italian Cuisine, on Edwards Avenue in Huntington Beach. Let the

steamy aroma of their minestrone soup work its wonders. It’s Mama’s

recipe, the one owner Nicolino Radogna learned while helping in the

kitchen of the family’s Chicago restaurant.

It was a long, eventful journey for the Radogna family from Bari,

Italy, to the United States in 1956. The family was aboard the Italian

luxury liner, the Andrea Doria, said Nick. The boat was fatally struck by

a Swedish steamer in the fog off Nantucket during its voyage.

Nearly 50 years later, Nick is in the kitchen of his own 17-table

restaurant, serving fresh, healthful pastas and pizzas in a bright

window-lined room where friendly greetings pass from table to table.

Our server, Michelle, brought the soups -- one a minestrone chock full

of fresh cauliflower, green and yellow squash, and broccoli. The other

was a pasta fagioli -- bean and pasta soup -- a little thick for my

taste, and it needed to be returned to the kitchen for further warming.

Lasagna (lunch $6.95, dinner $10.25), my entree, was sizzling hot with

thin pasta layers between ricotta cheese and covered with a rich

Bolognese sauce enhanced with wine and herbs. The pasta dishes go well

with the generous crisp, green salad drenched with home-style olive oil

and vinegar dressing.

Veal Scaloppine (a la carte $12.25, dinner $13.95) has six to eight

thin slices of veal dredged in flour and sauteed, then covered with a

tomato sauce, green peppers and slices of big mushrooms almost the size

of quarters. This sauce is milder and much less spicy than the spaghetti.

Nick learned well from his mother. Each dish has an authenticity that

is hard to duplicate, based on the “dash of this, pinch of that” school

of cooking.

Nick has added three new seafood dishes to the menu -- Sea Bass or

Salmon ($16.95 to $18.95) and Shrimp Gamberi ($16.95 to $18.95). The

shrimp dish is something -- a tangled pile of fettuccine with bits of

spinach and fresh, diced tomatoes surrounded by eight plump and firm

broiled tail-on shrimp -- a delicious dish with a faint whiff of garlic.

It is a good addition to the extensive menu.

If you’re looking for a quick lunch, try the classic Submarine ($3.95

to $5.95) or a hot Italian sausage one (small $4.25, large $6.25). The

fat, grainy sausage is split on a toasted roll and covered with marinara

sauce.

Desserts are the frozen variety from Brother’s Desserts. Spumoni

($2.95) is a slice of three-layer ice cream -- chocolate, strawberry and

vanilla with big cherries -- doused with whipped cream and served with a

scroll of chocolate.

Tiramisu ($4.25) is a light and sweet square of sponge cake layered

with marscapone (a sweetened cream cheese) and topped with a light

dusting of cocoa. Simple and good.

Then there is the Truffle ($2.95), like a huge bon bon, a scoop of

cappuccino ice cream is covered in hard, dark chocolate. Tap its shell

gently and savor with slow appreciation.

When we were there, the crowded dining room seemed like a cross

between the dressy “power lunch” cafe and a neighborhood hangout. Nick

knows the regulars by name, supervises the kitchen and keeps them true to

his family’s recipes.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions for her, call (562) 493-5062.

FYI

Lino’s Italian Cuisine

WHERE: 15941 Edwards St., Huntington Beach

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Closed Sunday.

CALL: (714) 891-0473

MISC.: Free delivery. Credit cards are accepted.