What is the sound of one man chewing?

Riva Cucina, West Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.

CAPESANTE GRATINATE (Herb and breadcrumb crusted fresh sea scallops baked in shell, organic mixed greens, lemon condimento)
INSALATA DI FARRO (Organic Italian barley, mizuna lettuce, shaved fennel, and blood orange segments, shaved Parmigiano, lemon condimento)
GNOCCHI ALL’AGNELLO (Potato dumplings with slowly braised lamb shank, diced vegetables, herbs, tomato and cabernet, pecorino Toscano)
SCALOPPE AI FUNGHI (Niman Ranch pork loin scaloppini with porcini and crimini mushrooms, mashed potato)
Glass of 2005 Falesco Vitiano

While full, I’m disappointed, and unfortunately, it’s $88 disappointed. I’m always on the lookout for Italinate restaurants in the East Bay because there are so few of excellent quality without a ridiculous wait. Lured by seafood, pasta, and seemingly reasonable prices (especially after a $18! pasta at Venezia), I dragged a friend out to West Berkeley in the pouring rain, hoping for a hidden gem. What we got instead was an unexceptional meal in a huge warehouse conversion that had the appearance of trendy coffee shop crossbred with a perplexingly upscale high school cafeteria, decorated by someone nursing an incoherent addiction to the Crate and Barrel outlet. Giant renaissance-modern light fixture in the corner, while the rest of us have to make do with the ambient sodium-vapor from outside? Floor-length maroon velvet curtains bisecting the dining room? A wall of photographs: portrait, landscape, random bookcase, portrait, landscape? I don’t understand!

My companion’s Insalata di Farro was an exercise in disjointness: while the mizuna had a lovely flavor, encountering overly thick “shavings” of fennel and large segments of tart blood orange were startling. “And there’s not enough farro,” he complained. The sea scallops in the Capesante Gratinate were fantastic: creamy-fresh and just barely baked until tender with a light dusting of breadcrumbs that enhanced but didn’t overpower their delicate sweetness. The mixed greens were less impressive, a standard combination of lettuces dressed with condimento with the overbearing taste of olives rather than lemon, which would have better suited the scallops.

Unfortunately, our main courses didn’t redeem the unevenness of the starters. The gnocchi all’agnello were rather firm and grainy, much like the vacuum-sealed gnocchi you can buy at any high-end grocery store. The sugo-style sauce, while benefiting from the richness of lamb, was one-dimensional, its “diced vegetables and herbs” invisible among salt and meat; I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could prepare this dish for half as much myself. My friend’s pork loin scaloppini and mashed potato tasted like… meat and potatoes. The straightforward, if boring, breaded pork was adequate but again lacked any specialness that comes from having someone else cook for you. The mushrooms provided the only source of distinct flavor. Unsurprisingly, my glass of wine tasted like an inexpensive Italian red blend, unremarkable and marked up far too much given the price for a bottle at my local BevMo.

Riva isn’t a destination restaurant by any means, but I might return again if I have an impatient hankering for bolognese. After all, the place was only about 25% full. I’d certainly head here before trying Venezia again.

(Recent history, for reference: the best use of mushrooms, the crimini demi-glace atop the hangar steak at Sauce; the best salad incorporating grain, the seared scallop/bacon/couscous/frisee perfection at the unstoppable Wood Tavern.)