Fresh Approach

In today’s highly competitive market, even the good restaurants, it seems, have a shelf life. The Encino establishment formerly known as Il Casale was one of the Valley’s best Italian restaurants. Now it has been reopened as Sharon’s. The ownership hasn’t changed, but the concept certainly has.

Paolo and Sharon Rosi have transformed Il Casale’s upscale Italian menu into an eclectic, highly eccentric one. In doing so, they have also limited the top dish price to $11.95.

Sharon herself is a welcoming presence. You will no doubt be warmly greeted by her the moment you check in. You enter through a long, narrow portion of the restaurant, taken up with about one-third of the available seating.

But practically everybody will choose the seductively intimate main dining area, entered through French doors. It’s a subdued, softly lighted room with white stucco walls, a billowy canvas hanging overhead, an abundance of towering plants and a miniature pond, whose effect is enhanced by the calm sound of bubbling water. You will need to be soothed; Sharon’s menu is quite a kick.

A few dishes, actually some of the better ones, are simply unusual riffs on familiar themes. The shiitake mushrooms stuffed with mushroom duxelles, herbs and just a hint of Parmesan are delicious. And so is the terrific angel-hair pasta Bolognese, made with a sumptuous veal ragout enriched with red wine.

But occasionally this food goes way over the top. A nice chunk of grilled salmon, for instance, is nicely cooked, with a beautiful reddish blush in the center. But the taste of the fish is overwhelmed by the mashed spiced eggplant upon which it sits. Adding to the culinary confusion are bits of orange and grapefruit sections scattered beside the fish.

There is a warm appetizer of Chinese egg rolls filled with scallops, orange, ginger and wasabi. The egg rolls taste good, but I happen to find the sight of a whole scallop spilling out of a fried cylinder disconcerting. But I quite like the menu’s pasta-less “lasagna.” This is like a warm potato casserole, a full-flavored baked dish composed of layers of skinless potato with onions, tomatoes and mushrooms.

Meat dishes are a good bet, since there is less doctoring with the basics. One of the house specialties is Sharon’s chicken, a colorful saute that looks (and tastes) like a Chinese dish. It is prepared with skinless and boneless white and dark meat, which is sauteed with kalamata olives, red and yellow bell peppers and fresh mushrooms. Only the olives--and the fact that the chicken is served in disconcertingly large chunks--takes away from the dish’s Oriental character.

Perhaps the menu’s best value is a 13-ounce braised veal shank, served on a bed of al dente linguine. The meat is tender and juicy, and the dish is identical to one I ate when this restaurant was Il Casale.

After the main courses, Sharon comes by the table with a short dessert list. She also gives you a brief bio of her husband, who was the gelato maker for Tre Scalini, the famous restaurant in Rome.

That convinced us to try several gelati, and all of them were of the highest standard. My favorite here is tartufo di cioccolato, an intensely bittersweet ball of chocolate ice cream coated with chopped dark chocolate. The lemon ice is grainy and properly tart, and for something with real eccentric appeal, there is citrus spice, a lemon gelato flavored with orange extract, cinnamon and star anise.

If you want to take a more standard route, there is a fine, eggy creme bru^lee made with real Tahitian vanilla bean, and a textbook homemade pumpkin pie, which is dense and spicy and topped with fresh whipped cream.

But then, you don’t necessarily go to Sharon’s seeking convention.

BE THERE

Sharon’s, 17970 Ventura Blvd., Encino. 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Dinner for two, $24-$42. Beer and wine only. Limited parking. All major cards. (818) 344-5788.