Mediterranean-eclectic dining impresses at this Woodland Hills restaurant

It’s hard to name a restaurant as grand and gala as the new Casaléna, concealed on a side street off Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills.

The destination restaurant that comes closest is the fabled Saddle Peak Lodge, also hidden from view at the cusp of Malibu Canyon and Las Virgenes roads in what’s technically Calabasas — though, like Casaléna, it seems to inhabit a land all its own. At various times in the past, the space has been home to Lautrec, Piacere and, most recently, The Villa, which was certainly memorable, but (in memory) much darker than Casaléna. It was a restaurant from another era.

But Casaléna — where the sun always seems to be shining, be it day or night — feels like a restaurant of the moment. It easily could be dropped on the Malibu coast, where it would fit perfectly with its open décor, its classically modern cooking, and the small army of high-steppers looking for a seat at either the indoor, or the outdoor bars.

If you want to go where it’s hip and happening in the West Valley, Casaléna should be on your speed dial.

The restaurant is built around a fictional character named Lena (the name translates as “Lena’s house”), a “fictional world … a radiant house of light. Her profound understanding of light and color enables her to craft a world emanating warmth and illumination, drawing visitors into its embrace … inspiring solace, hope and wonder.”

The description goes on like that for six paragraphs, along with busts of the fictional Lena scattered around the restaurant. Her name is on cans of tomato sauce in the kitchen as well. The branding is strong, but it’s not what draws in the crowds.

For me, at least, the big draw is just … being there. One warm evening, I recently sat at the end of the indoor bar, sipping a classic gin martini with a green olive in it, and staring in wonder at the Fig Old Fashioned — a concoction of both American rye and Irish whiskey, fig cordial, fig bitters, orange oil and cherry wood smoke — being consumed by the bare-midriff young lady next to me. It was like the traditional Old Fashioned (whiskey, butter, sugar and an orange slice) on steroids.

Her friend was drinking a Mediterranean Margarita (tequila, Cointreau, amontillado, lime, agave, orange marmalade, basil, caramelized orange). The bartenders, I noticed, never stopped moving. Making cocktails should be an Olympic event. Synchronized swimming doesn’t come close.

And yes, bunky, along with the setting and the mixology, there is food — though much of it seems almost down to earth by comparison. Almost, but not quite.

The menu is filled with recognizable dishes, some of which qualify as old friends, including the very tasty rigatoni with burrata, pine nuts and breadcrumbs; and the well-made, properly crunchy, deep-dish Margherita pizza, with its flag of Italy colors (white mozzarella, red tomato and green basil). The chopped salad features romaine, radicchio, tomato and sundry meats and cheeses.

But then, often it’s the simplest of dishes that dazzle the most. Consider, for instance, the long slab of crusty bread that arrives with many of the appetizers. You may have ordered the dish for its pile of whipped eggplant with pickled peppers. But, if you’re like me, it’s the bread you’ll obsess on. If a restaurant puts care into its bread, it puts care into everything. Or, to quote the secret agent in the Gregg Hurwitz novels, “How you do anything … is how you do everything.”

Indeed, you can live very well on the assortment of appetizers. The soft, tangy burrata cheese is anointed with black garlic balsamic. The blistered snap peas with their blackened crust, and preserved lemon. The trumpet mushrooms with pickled celery. The charred octopus with chorizo and piquillo pepper aioli. Are the tender, moist, flavorful meatballs made with Wagyu beef? Do you even need to ask? So is the beef ragu on the pappardelle.

I do wonder if the pan-seared salmon needs a coconut crust? But then, that may be me — I like my fish untouched by anything but a flame. Indeed, I’ve always wished the crudos — in this case, hamachi and tuna — had less in the way of oil and marinade.

By contrast, the fact that the french fries are drizzled with parmesan is fine with me. And the lemon breadcrumbs on the grilled Caesar salad are a tastebud bell ringer. Smoked scamorza cheese in the whipped tomatoes? Bring it on. It almost took my attention away from the grandness of the place. But only almost.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.

Casaléna

• Rating: 3 stars
• Address: 22160 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills
• Information: 818-704-1185, www.casalena.la
• Cuisine: Mediterranean-Eclectic
• When: Dinner, every day
• Details: Full bar; reservations essential
• Atmosphere: An amazing space, sprawling and dramatic, with bars inside and out, multiple patios (one inside a garden), an upstairs for special occasions, and a general sense of being the place of the moment.
• Prices: About $75 per person
• On the menu: 7 Appetizers ($16-$26), 5 Pastas ($22-$35), 3 Crudo ($21-$23), 4 Salads ($16-$21), 5 Pizzas ($19-$28), 6 Large Plates ($26-$44), 4 Prime Cuts ($29-$69), 5 Sides ($9-$15)
• Credit cards: MC, V
• What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.