The Wine List

Il Teatro, the year-old Tarzana restaurant run by Tony Fasulo and Nicola Rossetto, will host a special dinner featuring the wines of the Tuscan winery Castello Banfi on June 2.

For $65 a person, you’ll get a risotto with asparagus as an antipasto, a salad of marinated baby artichokes on Belgian endive, a first course of striped bass, a second of osso buco, and a dessert of zabaglione.

The Castello Banfi wines, in order: Sartori Pinot Grigio, Centine Rosso, Fontanelli Chardonnay, Brunello di Montalcino, and Moscadello.

Fasulo hails from Venice, Italy, where he learned to cook in a family restaurant, and his menu reflects the foods of Northern Italy--for example, a wide-ribbon pasta called pappardelle with wild mushrooms sauced with cream and cognac, and sauteed veal liver with caramelized onions, herbs and cognac.

Prices range under $16. Il Teatro is at 19563 Ventura Blvd., (818) 996-8008.

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Speaking of Italy--plus Brazil and Portugal--the adventurous John Borghetti has a new menu for his Westlake Village restaurant, Galletto Caffe & Grill, which features the cuisine of the Italian immigrants who settled in southern Brazil, where he was born.

“Probably 75% to 80% of the population in southern Brazil is of European descent,” says Borghetti. “Many Italians from Milano and Trento in the north of Italy settled there because they found the climate very similar--four seasons, very hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

He also has a flair for adventure in the kitchen. The Galletto menu reflects the cuisine of Italy flavored with those of Brazil and Portugal, of which Brazil was a colony.

New on the menu are bife Buenos Aires, a grilled steak served with black beans, rice, platanos verdes (green banana) and a chimichurri sauce from the pampas “made with olive oil, herbs, red peppers, salt and love,” as Borghetti puts it.

Borghetti also serves blackened catfish ao guarani with a papaya sauce and a moqueca de peixe al molho de coco--fish with a spicy coconut and tomato sauce.

Prices generally run under $12.

Galletto Caffe & Grill is at 982-2 Westlake Blvd., (805) 449-4300.

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Cafe Sole in La Canada celebrates the first anniversary of its founding this month with special family dinners Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for $12.95 a person.

Dinner includes a salad followed by either eggplant parmigiana, rigatoni Siciliana, or a chicken breast sauteed with bell peppers, onions and tomatoes, plus spumoni for dessert and coffee.

Cafe Sole is at 1929 Verdugo Ave., La Canada, (818) 790-6062.

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* Juan Hovey writes about the restaurant scene in the San Fernando Valley and outlying points. Call (805) 492-7909, fax (805) 492-5139 or e-mail JH[email protected].