Restaurants serve up macaroni and cheese variations

Patina, that Los Angeles dining institution, has made one with hand-rolled macaroni and mascarpone cheese. Ammo, a Hollywood spot where you're likely to overhear conversations about personal trainers, does a version with four cheeses and wild mushrooms.

During truffle season, Mlisse in Santa Monica, Calif., fills a tuile of melted Parmesan with pasta, Taleggio and truffles. And when Mimosa, a French bistro, first put it on the menu, it was called "gratin macaroni comme quand on tait petit."

In other words, macaroni and cheese "like when you were little."

Mac and cheese might be the last thing you'd expect to find chefs lavishing with attention. But if you look through the menus at some of Los Angeles' most interesting restaurants, it's clear that macaroni and cheese is the new-old thing of the moment. One chef after another is trying a personal riff on a dish that already has a long and storied past, putting real creative energy into it while maintaining its endearing kid-food qualities.

Of course, whenever ambitious chefs try to put their mark on something we love, we start to worry. Some of these newfangled versions are rather alarming. (We'll pass on the version with foie gras.) But there are plenty that work.

Take the one at the House on Melrose Avenue — a dish made with such finesse that, to the chef's shock, it is helping to make the restaurant's reputation.

"It got on our menu kind of as a joke," says Scooter Kanfer, the chef. "When we were about to open last year, we were all stressed out, and they asked me, 'What do you really feel like eating?' and I said, 'Macaroni and cheese.'

"But it's turned out to be one of my biggest sellers. I go through 30 pounds of cheese a week."

If you're one of the legions who've tasted it, that's no surprise. Kanfer's version — made with luscious goat's milk Cheddar, extra-large pasta shells and a crisp layer of bread crumbs as delicate as a creme brulee crust — is transcendent.

Mark Peel, who sometimes serves macaroni and cheese at Campanile's Monday-night family dinners, says a lot of the attraction is that it's a touchstone of American home cooking. "Nearly every kid grew up eating it," he says. "I like it a lot, personally. You can use it as a blank slate, you can do a lot of things with it, though you have to have one foot in tradition."

One of its secrets is versatility. Macaroni and cheese has to be close enough to what you grew up on to warm the heart, but beyond that there's a recipe for every taste, from simple mac and Jack to versions spiked with bacon or chutney. It can be chewy with tender pasta or so loaded with cheese it's more like a nacho plate. There's room for Oprah Winfrey's recipe (Muenster, Jack, two kinds of Cheddar, Velveeta, two eggs) and Paul Prudhomme's (lowfat Cheddar and cottage cheese).

A big macaroni and cheese revival is being sparked by restaurants' innovative recipes. Chef Laima Leko of the Los Angeles restaurant Eatwell says this is an old diner favorite.

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups cream
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup (4 ounces) Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) sharp Cheddar cheese, grated, divided
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled, divided
• Dash hot pepper sauce
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water for about 10 minutes, until done. Drain well and set aside.

Melt the butter and saute the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the milk and cream, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the mixture is thick and creamy.

Add the mustard, Jack cheese, 1 cup of Cheddar cheese, the Parmesan and 1/2 cup bleu cheese. Return to the heat until melted. Add the hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper.

Mix the sauce with the cooked macaroni and put in a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup Cheddar and 1/4 cup bleu cheese on top and bake for about 30 minutes, until brown and crusty on top.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 526 calories, 38 grams fat (23 grams saturated), 116 milligrams cholesterol, 19 grams protein, 29 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram dietary fiber, 571 milligrams sodium.

The version served at Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch is as light as fluffy scrambled eggs.

• 1/2 pound rigatoni, uncooked
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk, hot
• 4 cups (1 pound) Cheddar cheese, grated, divided
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 drops yellow food coloring

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the rigatoni in plenty of rapidly boiling lightly salted water for about 12 minutes, until tender. Drain.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the raw flour smell goes away. Stir in the milk and cook until smooth. Add 3 1/2 cups Cheddar, the seasoned salt, white pepper and food coloring, and stir for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Stir in the rigatoni.

Pour into an 8-inch baking dish, sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup Cheddar and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 721 calories, 52 grams fat (33 grams saturated), 162 milligrams cholesterol, 36 grams protein, 28 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram dietary fiber, 1,454 milligrams sodium.

The House's Scooter Kanfer based this elegant dish on her grandfather's version. Panko are Japanese bread crumbs; look for them in large supermarkets or in Asian grocery stores. If you cannot find goat's milk Cheddar cheese, substitute 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar and 1/4 cup soft goat cheese.

• 2 3/4 cups milk
• 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 3/4 cup extra-sharp raw goat's milk Cheddar, grated
• 1 1/4 cups fontina cheese, shredded
• 2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated
• 1/2 pound large pasta shells, uncooked
• 1 1/4 cups fresh bread crumbs or panko

Heat the broiler or oven to 350 degrees. Heat the milk to just below boiling and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. When it starts to bubble, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute to make a roux. Slowly pour the heated milk into the roux, whisking constantly, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

Remove from the heat and season with the salt, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg and cayenne. Stir in the grated Cheddar, fontina and Gruyere.

Cook the pasta in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water slightly less than you normally would, for about 10 minutes. Stir the pasta into the cheese sauce and divide evenly among 6 buttered ramekins.

Divide the bread crumbs evenly among the ramekins and scatter over the top. Brown the bread crumbs under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes or in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 686 calories, 49 grams fat (30 grams saturated), 160 milligrams cholesterol, 37 grams protein, 24 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram dietary fiber, 1,203 milligrams sodium.