Vietnam Noodle Cafe 476 W. Los Angeles Ave., Suite B-10, Moorpark. 523-3145. The tiny but tidy spot offers freshly prepared Vietnamese food with gracious service. The array of ethnic specialties includes a particularly good peanut hoisin sauce with the shrimp and pork spring rolls and the Chinese sausage fresh rolls, both unfried items wrapped in edible rice paper. Some items that could be stand-alone entrees at other spots are blended into the cafe's noodle and/or rice soups, including chicken curry rice vermicelli soup and lemongrass beef stew rice noodle soup. The tasty results are modestly priced. Chuck Kirman / Star staff The shrimp and pork spring rolls at Vietnam Noodle Cafe are served with a delicious peanut hoisin sauce.

Here's a look back at Rita Moran's recent restaurant reviews, in chronological order. Moran visits restaurants unannounced and pays for her meals.

Experi-mental Cafe, in the Woolworth building at Fourth and A streets, Oxnard. 385-3605. Woolworth building owner David Feigin has converted the site's corner space into an eccentric cafe, featuring food choices that meander from egg cream to chicken shwarma wraps, with terrific pastrami-wrapped hot dogs and an amazing Twinkie-based dessert. There's a lunch counter and booths on the food-serving side, and a collection of mid-20th-century curios on the Woolworth "museum" side, where live music prevails Tuesday through Saturday nights.

Farm-dinner series at The SideCar Restaurant, 3029 E. Main St., Ventura. 653-7433. Chef and co-owner Tim Kilcoyne shines the spotlight on local, seasonal produce by presenting once-a-month dinners, each devoted to a specific grower in the area. Coming up: fruits and vegetables from Underwood Family Farms (April 16), and produce from Tomai Farms (May 21). Reservations are $55 per person; $75 with wine paired to each of the four courses.

Mandarin Express. 5015 Kanan Road, Agoura Hills. 818-991-9831. The Asian-fusion cuisine at this hidden gem is amazing in its scope. With chef Dan Chang in the kitchen and the exuberant Kim Truong out front, the restaurant dishes up countless variations on traditional themes using ingredients and styles from many lands. There are popular lunchtime specials, which include some of the main menu items and changes according to what's available each day. But more adventurous diners should try: crispy shrimp roll with peanut sauce, wor wonton soup with shallots, Turmeric Lemon Grass Beef, Pecan Shrimp, Calamari with Korean Pear Puree, and Raspberry Captain Morgan Rum Chicken.

Vesta Home and Hearth, 242 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai. 646-2339. The new shop and restaurant replaces Tottenham Court in the historic Ojai Arcade, retaining the formal teas but bringing a distinct California focus to the menu and international approach to the attractive household goods on the retail side. Dining is in an inside area slightly divided from the store, and outside on a sunny patio at the back. Food is available from around 9 a.m., when several basic breakfast items appear. Later, there are sandwiches, salads, paninis, and some shareable "small bites" like baked brie with honey and brown sugar and a seven-layer Mediterranean dip. A small but interesting wine list also is available.

Cafe Firenze, 563 W. Los Angeles Ave., Moorpark. 532-0048. An exceptional Italian restaurant is co-owned by chef Fabio Viviani and Jacopo Falleni, both from Italy, and Viviani's father-in-law, Mike Takeda of Ventura. Viviani dishes up authentic Italian recipes, some from Florence, where he and Falleni both had restaurant experience before crossing the Atlantic. Viviani was previously chef at Cafe Fiore in Ventura. The menu is full of memorable dishes made with exceptional ingredients the chef has selected from Italy, along with the bounty of California. Portions are generous and sauces are rich. Among recommended dishes are the prosciutto and melon appetizer; a seared sugar shrimp, roasted asparagus and sun-dried and cherry tomato salad; spinach and ricotta dumplings "malfatti" with roasted wild porcini mushroom sauce; lamb shank in an Italian red wine and vegetable demi-glace; and spirals of Italian sausage. Also on the menu are "American favorites," but even those are likely to have much more authenticity and enhanced ingredients.