DINING OUT -- MARY FURR

Mom always told you to “eat healthy,” and on Mother’s Day this Sunday,

you can show her you learned well by taking her to Macaroni Grill, at

Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach, where the

insalata is filled with spinach and the tomatoes are sun-dried.

The Grill is the friendliest of places; music escapes from the open

door and servers are lined up to escort you to a table. It’s a large

fluid restaurant where everyone is busy. An open kitchen to the right of

the entrance has cooks assisting chef Adam Medina in the preparation of

his great sauces. The “esprit de cuisine” is friendly family-style as

most Italian kitchens seem to be.

Any Italian dish with the name Florentine will include spinach which

is true of Insalata Florentine ($8.29), a large bowl filled with fresh

torn spinach leaves, astringent dark sun-dried tomatoes, capers, loads of

pine nut and orzo -- Italian for barley but actually rice-shaped pasta --

in a mildly spicy roasted garlic lemon vinaigrette. It’s an excellent

first dish to share or a completely satisfying lunch.

At Macaroni Grill, pasta is homemade with a firm, chewy texture. A

special at one lunch was ravioli (Italian for “little wraps”) ($7.97),

five round pasta pockets stuffed with minced mushrooms and herbs bathed

with a delicious sauce filled with more sliced mushrooms. I sopped it up

with bread torn from a warm round loaf of sourdough that comes to the

table when you are seated.

Another pasta dish from a family recipe is penne rustica ($8.99),

tubular pasta like short macaroni with grilled chicken, shrimp and smoked

prosciutto in an excellent creamy cheese sauce. It is served in a heavy

casserole, sprinkled with Parmesan and baked.

“It’s the baking that gives it its special taste,” says James Snyder,

a hands-on manager who circulates in the dining room, greeting diners and

overseeing the smooth running of this busy restaurant.

Another family recipe, San Marino ($12.99), began as a lunch special

but was so popular it is now a regular menu choice. It has everything --

a short skewer of three tail-on shrimp, beside a tender deboned grilled

chicken breast and a generous pile of orzo pasta, sun-dried tomatoes with

pieces of radicchio (Italian chicory) and spicy red peppers -- the

texture contrast was unusual with the firm red and white chicory and the

softer pasta.

Pizza Napoli ($8.95), baked in the wood burning oven, is a light pie

covered with thin tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, pale yellow banana

peppers, bits of spinach and roasted garlic buds on a tissue thin crust

like you’d find in northern Italy. The peppers have a fleshy juiciness

and the very thin crust makes for a great eight-slice lunch for two.

There is a tempting dessert tray with New York cheesecake, lemon

tarts, tiny cream puffs and carrot cake. Or you can order Italian spumoni

($5), a small deep bowl filled with a chocolate, vanilla, cherry and

nuts. It’s a frozen dessert, not the best I’ve eaten -- more like

American ice cream.

Snyder says the regular menu, with the addition of several special

dishes Medina is creating, will be served on Mother’s Day. Service will

begin at 10 a.m., an hour earlier than the regular opening with

reservations taken until noon and priority seating after noon.

This Mother’s Day, you may not be able to take Mom to Italy, but you

can do the next best thing -- eat like you’re in Italy at Macaroni Grill.

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

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

FYI

Macaroni Grill

WHERE:7901 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 901-4352

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m.

Friday and Saturday.

MOTHER’S DAY HOURS: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

MISC.: Credit cards accepted.