MARY FURR -- DINING OUT

Sebastiani’s Italian Bistro, deep inside the Warnerdale Shopping Center

in Huntington Beach, is a wonderful place -- the kind you only share with

your very best friends.

Named for owner Pablo Benavente’s baby son, the restaurant is like a

neighborhood bistro found in an Italian piazza. The owner and his

partner, Braulio Melo, do the cooking, and lovely, dark-eyed Erika,

Pablo’s sister, is the server.

The usual is different at Sebastiani’s. The bread sticks are skinny and

very crisp -- just right to dip into the two sauces. And the sauces are

yummy -- one a smooth, fresh parsley and pine nut in olive oil mix, the

other a chunky, warm tomato marinara. The table bread is fine-grained

with a soft crust.

Benavente says freshness and presentation are important to him. This can

be seen in the house salad, a pile of olive oil-slicked endive, baby

spinach and red oak leaf with spicy olives and narrow strips of feta

cheese and tomato wedges forming a tepee over them. Served in a big,

shallow bowl, it’s a wonderful way to begin any meal. Topped with grilled

chicken or shrimp, it makes a great economical and healthy lunch.

The pastas, like everything here, are homemade. Preparation takes time,

but the specials are worth waiting for. One lunch, it was ravioli filled

with fresh spinach and covered with a creamy white sauce flecked with

bits of green and tart sun-dried tomato.

The manicotti ($7.95), two tube-shaped noodles about 3 inches long, are

firm and slightly chewy, stuffed with lumpy ricotta and spinach. One

comes covered with a creamy Alfredo sauce, the other a deep, red marinara

with spicy overtones.

Fish and seafood are specials Chef Melo treats with care. The Scampi

Fradiavola ($16.95) is spectacular. The prawns, which look like a cross

between a shrimp and a lobster, have white, tender, almost sweet, flesh

inside their crusty coats. They have to be dug out with a fork. Four are

arranged with a helping of spaghetti. Both prawns and pasta are covered

with a wonderful herbed tomato sauce.

Another great preparation is the inch-thick sea bass ($12.25) with a

perfect lemon-butter sauce that seeps into the fish. The sauce is smooth

and mild with capers giving added piquancy -- perfect with the lean sea

bass. Served with fresh mixed vegetables and herbed potatoes, the dish

has everything -- great taste and colorful presentation.

Hard to believe, but Pablo makes his own super spumoni ($4.95). Served in

a big slice, the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry icy concoction is

filled with rum-soaked raisins and pistachios.

A simpler dessert is ice cream. The chocolate has a smooth, mellow taste

and can be served with coconut gelato if you can’t decide which to order.

Sliced strawberries add an accent to a great dish.

Benavente says Sebastiani’s is not pure Italian, but a blend of

Mediterranean cuisines dominated by the wonderful tastes of pasta,

seafood and sauces. He says his restaurant, like his son, is his baby. He

is raising them both with love.

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

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

SEBASTIANI’S ITALIAN BISTRO

WHERE: 6078 Warner Ave., Huntington Beach

HOURS: Lunch -- 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner --

4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday till 10:30

p.m., Sunday from 4:30 to 9 p.m.MISC.: Credit cards are accepted.

CALL: 841-3619