Dining details: Valentino

Valentino

Rating: ***

Location: 3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 829-4313.

Ambience: Surprisingly frumpy decor for a restaurant of this stature, with four dining rooms and a handful of frequently requested private alcoves. The crowd is a mix of tourists, Italian-food lovers and serious wine buffs.

Service: Excellent, especially the wine service.

Price: Appetizers, $10 to $17; pastas, $16 to $18; main courses, $25 to $36; desserts, $9; chef’s tasting dinner, $85 per person, $30 additional for optional wine pairing.

Best dishes: Tortellini in brodo, grilled seppie (cuttlefish) with lentils, spaghetti alle vongole veraci, paccheri with rabbit ragu and other pastas, veal chop with mushrooms and Marsala, lamb cooked in a bread crust, cannoli, sweet almond-hazelnut focaccia -- and dishes from the “menu extravaganza.”

Wine list: One of the best Italian wine lists in the world. Corkage, $35.

Best table: One of the private alcoves.

Details: Open for dinner Monday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., and for lunch, Friday only, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking, $4.50.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.