High(lands) Hope For Casa Nostra

You feel like a character from an Antonioni movie as you zip up Palisades Drive in your convertible during the magic hour, taking in the late-afternoon lavenders and ambers cast on the green mountains. So it’s only fitting that your destination, should you be hungry, be Casa Nostra Ristorante at 1515 Palisades Drive in the Highlands. ‘I’ve always opened for other people,’ says Giovanni Zappone, who has run the restaurant with his partners, Michele Scarpino and Nostra’s chef, Gerardo Ballesteros, since last August. ‘This is the first restaurant I’ve opened for myself.’ The son of trattoria owners in his native Italy, Zappone says that having the same chef from the previous Italian restaurant gives the eatery continuity from when it was Paolo’s Ristorante and ensures the quality of the food, for which Nostra uses only the freshest ingredients. He says he’ll pay more for the best products rather than take shortcuts that compromise the taste. Satino Coccia, a successful L.A. restaurateur and a buddy from Zappone’s teen years in Milan, motivated Zappone to move to California in 2000. He worked at various Italian restaurants around L.A., including Ago in West Hollywood and E. Baldi in Beverly Hills from 2005 through 2009. E. Baldi owner Eduardo Baldi is the son of Georgio Baldi of Georgio’s in Santa Monica Canyon. ‘I had the good fortune of working with Eduardo,’ says Zappone, a Northridge resident who works hands-on at Nostra seven days a week. ‘I learned a lot about everything from him”the food, the service, how to run the business.’ Paolo’s barely lasted a year before owner Paolo Marrazzi forfeited his business. Ballesteros’ menu has changed and so have the prices. The result: high caliber cuisine for less. The papardelle d’anatra (duck ragu atop noodles) is delicious, as is the fettucini boscaiola”white wine sauce-soaked pasta topped with Italian sausage and mushrooms. For dessert, there’s tiramisu, cheesecake and a flourless chocolate cake. But the sublime offering is the homemade cr’me br’l’e. The ambiance has also changed for the better. Before reopening, Zappone re-tiled the floor and lightened up the interior by knocking out or repainting walls a subtle pale yellow. This upped the classy appearance while maintaining the relaxed atmosphere and that killer view from the covered patio. ‘I love the atmosphere,’ Nancy Lynch says as she and a friend try Nostra’s signature dish, the branzino alla livornese (Mediterranean sea bass saut’ed with cherry tomatoes and kalamata, and accompanied by spinach).   Unlike Paolo’s, Casa Nostra intends to stick around for a while. Zappone signed a 15-year lease, and says: ‘I really want to thank my neighbors and the neighborhood. I’m not a millionaire. I’m just a person looking for a chance to run a very good restaurant. Here, I’ve found a beautiful community.’   Contact: (310) 454-8889; www.casanostraristorantela.com