RESTAURANT REVIEW ALLEGRO : New Nouvelle : A name change and a switch to dishes with a Mediterranean flavor have not banished the earlier influences at Allegro.

Nouvelle cuisine still lives, although it sometimes goes under a different name. Such as Mediterranean.

In this case, Mediterranean is what is being dished up at Norbert and Brigitte Schulz’s “new” restaurant, Allegro. The new restaurant is in the same old frame house on Santa Barbara’s De La Vina Street as the old one--Norbert’s. The name may have changed but Norbert Schulz continues to put out some of the area’s best cuisine. He’s also added a full bar, which in itself is a pretty comfortable place to eat.

Call it nouvelle, call it Mediterranean, “It’s a new concept,” our waitress told us when we asked about the change in the menu. “He got tired of the 14-hour days of French nouvelle cuisine.”

But a close look first at the menu, then at the servings, convinced us that the nouvelle influence hasn’t been banished altogether. Perhaps the size of the servings is larger--but just by a bit, if at all. Meat and potato types might heed the warning of one member of our party. Between mouthfuls of something called frittatini with goat cheese, grilled radicchio and gazpacho vinaigrette, this diner mumbled, “I don’t think there’s a meal on this menu--except for the veal chop.”

One might quibble with the size and delicacy of some dishes, such as the frittatini , or the quail Catalan with figs, chorizo and fried zucchini. But I’d go to the wall defending that veal chop. It’s possibly the best you’ll find anyplace on the South Coast. Starting with a fine piece of meat, the chef grilled it very gently, sealing all the juices in, laced it with fontina cheese and basil, then surrounded it with large and savory roasted garlic cloves.

There’s room for vigorous disagreement about Allegro’s pastas. I liked the subtleness of those I tasted, such as the pinci , which is hand-rolled and mixed with lobster, red peppers and pesto. Some in our party found it difficult to pick the more distinctive flavors out of a dish such as the penne pasta, done with prawns, smoked mozzarella and chives in a cream sauce. In fact, that same skeptic who had grumbled earlier about the nouvelle aspect of the menu wasn’t far off the mark when she said, “This is one of those dishes with 1,000 ingredients and no distinctive flavor.” I think there are times when merging the flavors in such a way that no one of them dominates is a good idea.

A lack of distinctive flavoring is definitely not a problem when it comes to one of the house specialties, the tapas served for two. These are on five small plates and vary from day to day. Selections include an empanada of goat cheese, a shrimp on a skewer with a very spicy olive--a flavor combination I especially liked--and sea scallop escabeche , with the scallops marinated in cilantro, vinaigrette sauce, tomatoes and onions.

A double order of the tapas would be a fairly decent meal.

At lunchtime, the menu is scaled down a bit, but Allegro serves the same sort of dishes.

Still, I don’t know how Norbert has been able to cut down much on those 14-hour days. He makes his own breads, and they always seem to have just come from the oven. The flavors vary from olive to cinnamon--the latter being one that seems best left for breakfast.

And when he’s not baking bread, he’s obviously spending a lot of time on the ice creams and pastries, which are done from scratch. The Marsala ice cream gets raves for its unique flavor, but it seems to me that the pastries are Allegro’s most exciting desserts, especially the chocolate models.

There’s a sabayon cake, heavy on the chocolate, seasoned with four different liqueurs and with berries on top. For something a bit lighter, the chocolate ricotta cake, or even the lemon version, will certainly do.

Whether you call it nouvelle cuisine or Mediterranean, Allegro has a good thing going for its clientele.

* WHERE AND WHEN

Allegro, 920 De La Vina St., Santa Barbara, (805) 965-6012. Open for lunch Wednesday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Open for dinner Wednesday-Monday 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Some major credit cards accepted, reservations accepted, full bar. Lunch for two, food only, $15-$30. Dinner for two, food only, $39-$56. Recommended dishes: Grilled veal chop, $17.50; tapas , $6.75 per person for two people.