Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff Linguini Del Mar is one of the dishes available at Matteo's Trattoria, now owned by the brother-and-sister duo of Eduardo and Elizabeth Lebeis.

Matteo's Trattoria in Camarillo has long been a little less Italian than you'd expect, given its name.

Previous chef and owner Denis Rion turned out very good French food there before selling the restaurant last year to the brother-and-sister duo of Eduardo and Elizabeth Lebeis, who are Brazilian.

Still, there is an abundance of Italian fare on the menu. Diners can enjoy calamari fritti, caprese salad, minestrone, pasta fagioli, pizzas, pastas and salmon di Parma, among other dishes.

And there remain vestiges of Rion's involvement, including French onion soup and, at lunchtime, a Croque Monsieur sandwich.

But the new owners, along with chef Jose Sosa, formerly of Holdren's Steak and Seafood, are tweaking the menu in interesting ways.

There are a few downright Brazilian dishes, including shrimp a Baiana, in which the shellfish are cooked in tomato sauce with cilantro, coconut milk and palm, or dende, oil. (Distracted by a shrimp appetizer, we missed the Baiana opportunity to go Brazilian with the shrimp entree, but it sounds like fun.)

Matteo's hasn't changed much in looks since changing hands. It has a small but attractively airy dining room with a view into the kitchen, and the enclosed patio offers glimpses of the hills flanking the Conejo Grade. Attractive photos and artwork dot the walls, and the women's restroom is still charmingly decorated in French fashion.

We were taken by the list of dinner specials, which our amiable server said change each week for the three nights that dinner is served (Thursdays through Saturdays; lunch is available Mondays through Fridays).

Everything on the bright yellow "specials" page sounded appetizing. We ordered three of the items, a starter of coconut shrimp ($12) and entrees of half a Maine lobster stuffed with pepper jack cheese and crabmeat ($28) and white salmon stuffed with spinach and mushrooms ($26).

The lightly coated, crisp exterior of the shrimp was admirable and the texture ideal, but neither the shrimp nor the coating imparted a lot of flavor. The saving grace was a neat little mound of fresh mango salsa that enlivened everything.

Before moving on to our entrees, we added an Alegria salad ($8.50), chosen from the regular menu because of the key ingredient: roasted red beets. We also ordered a bowl of French onion soup ($7.50), in honor of Rion.

The salad had a lot going on in addition to the small cubes of beets. Red onions, Gorgonzola cheese and Mandarin orange slices got on well with the lemon-olive oil dressing. The overall result was zesty, but the strong cheese and onion flavors made the beets seem like minor players. The onion soup, served in a small bowl and topped with melted Gruyere cheese, was sweet and full-bodied.

The stuffed Maine lobster half was delicious, with a surprisingly compatible blend of the sweet and mild seafood with the peppery cheese. Linking it all was a subtle lobster sauce. Also on the plate were grilled vegetables and a baked potato accompanied by little tubs of sour cream, chives and bacon bits.

The same vegetables — bell peppers of varied hues and summer squash slices — enhanced the white salmon dish, along with a delicious stuffing of spinach and mushrooms and a light layer of lime beurre blanc sauce. A mound of wild rice added a piquant flavor to the plate.

I asked our server if the white salmon was the same fish used in other salmon entrees on Matteo's regular menu and she said no, that it had just become available and was brought in that morning from the provider. The fine salmon, slightly milder than rosy versions, intrigued me so much that I went home and checked it out on the Internet, finding a good article, "The Fairest of Fish," from the Seattle Times magazine; it noted that white salmon used to be cast aside but now is more prized than the red-pink version.

It was a treat in any case, and appealingly prepared in a way that highlighted the delicate flavor.

Many of the items on the menu can be ordered at either lunch or dinner, sometimes with slightly varied prices that reflect the difference in portions. Sandwiches and paninis are available at lunch only, with a half-panini sandwich plus soup, salad or fries available at $7.95.

Matteo's also has a modest list of wines by the bottle and a smaller selection of wine by the glass.

— Rita Moran visits restaurants unannounced and pays for her meals. If you know of a new, unusual or just plain good restaurant, contact her at ritamoran@earthlink.net.