Sandie Wernick: Villa d'Este - a Family Affair

The same family has run the lovely Villa d'Este restaurant for nearly three decades. In this town, that's quite a record.

Built in 1928, and owned by Ramon Oropeza since 1977, key members of the staff have been there for decades. For example, executive chef Jose Brasjas is a 28-year veteran, sous chef Ophelia Lopez, has been onboard for 25 years and Jim Rossi has tickled the ivories on Friday and Saturday nights for 15 years.

Currently, three generations of the Oropeza family are involved in the operation.

The dining room reminds me of a fashionable Art Deco nightclub. Two large, interesting-looking wooden chandeliers hang from the very high ceiling and dominate the room. Also of interest are the faux curtains made of wood that frame the room. The ceiling is painted a deep cranberry color, giving it a rich feel against the white walls.

One wall features nearly floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a lovely patio. Though fairly sophisticated in decor, it is still very much a family-style restaurant with casual attire being perfectly acceptable.

The cuisine is primarily southern Italian. That means the sauces are heavy and traditional. The food is good, though not superb; and the service was also good.

My sister and I opted for the a la carte menu, which included salad or soup. It was more than enough food for both of us.

My sister thoroughly enjoyed her chowder, which reminded her of a seafood bisque. The light cream soup included generous chunks of bay shrimp, potatoes and scallions. Her entree was Cannelloni a la Ramon ($12 a la carte, $15.50 dinner) and it looked as good as it tasted. The pasta was perfectly al dente, hot but not scalding, filled with veal and beef and lightly covered with tomato and bechamel sauces.

I don't eat meat very often so I was really looking forward to a nice sirloin steak. Instead of soup, I ordered a salad that consisted of fresh garbanzo, waxed and kidney beans, cherry tomatoes, beets and lots of iceberg and romaine lettuce. However, I never got the top sirloin steak smothered in mushrooms ($14 a la carte and $17.50 dinner menu) that I ordered. Instead, I got a New York steak. I realized something was askew when there were no mushrooms. When I asked where they were, I was told I ordered a New York Steak. Unfortunately, instead of offering to get me the right steak, the waiter opted instead to bring me a side dish of mushrooms. The steak wasn't the greatest, but the button and chanterelles mushrooms were tasty and sauteed just right.

The steak came with pasta, topped with a Bolognese sauce, and zucchini, which was excellent.

If you want dinner in a lovely setting, reasonably priced, with good service (and, on weekends, nice piano playing),Villa d'Este is a good place to try.

Villa d'Este
2623 Ocean Ave.
(415) 334-0580
Open for lunch Monday through Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner Monday through Friday, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.