La Trattoria

Never too much of a good thing

by Bill Rodriguez

97 Crandall Road, Tiverton, 624-3606
Open Wed-Thurs., 5.-9 p.m.; Fri & Sat., 5-10 p.m.; Sun, noon-8 p.m.
Major credit cards
Sidewalk access

The State House hasn't legislated it yet, but we all know that the official state restaurant is the Italian restaurant. They are cheek-by-jowl on Federal Hill, with the occasional Japanese or Jamaican one alongside like decorations. Some of the better ones are so good they can afford to be low-key, even coy; passing by the Tabor-Franchi VFW post in Cranston, you'd be forgiven for thinking there was a bowling alley in the basement, instead of the undeclared Mike's Kitchen, whose polenta can make strong men weep.

So when Richard Cusolito decided to get back into the restaurant business after an 18-year hiatus, it made sense to call his place La Trattoria and let the food, rather than the name, command the attention (In Italy, trattorias are informal restaurants, like French bistros). The restaurateur's new entry opened in February at his tavern, Finally Richard's, in the East Bay Yankee heartland of Tiverton. Cusolito found the chef he wanted in Fabio Pagnozzi, Naples-born and Florence-trained, a veteran of upscale restaurants from California to, most recently, Las Vegas. As the summer progresses, expect to notice olive oil stains on local Topsiders.

There is a deck at La Trattoria, but we ate inside on the windy evening when we came. The dining room is spacious and not at all noisy, with eight booths bracketing widely spaced tables. Window valences and a wall border strip have a green and pink floral design, and the overall mood is as sedate as visiting the home of a kindly aunt.

An early decision after sitting down is whether to have a bottle of wine. A minimal mark-up keeps prices under $22 per bottle, with many of the 20 selections only $13.

The appetizer choices are simple classics, as are the entrées, and both are heavy on the seafood. The simplest antipasti are the fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and basil ($4.95) and the roasted peppers marinated with mushrooms and calamata olives ($6.95). The most complex was the one we chose, the house specialty: grigliata di vegetale con scampi e calamari ($7.95). Long, diagonal zucchini and summer squash slices were marinated with tomatoes, then grilled and served over lettuce drizzled with a tangy balsamic vinaigrette. The two jumbo grilled shrimp were fresh and cooked just right, and the plethora of baby squid was quite tender, including the tentacles.

Main dishes come with choice of soup or salad, which makes the unusually low prices of the entrées even more of a bargain (Many are only $9 and $10, and the priciest is a $17 beef tenderloin). In addition to clam chowder, the soup of the day was cream of vegetable. Far from being an incidental lagniappe, it was exquisite. The generous bowl of puree was not only velvety with cream and butter, but also densely flavorful -- it seemed to be heavy on asparagus. I'd have paid a good amount for my own bowl if I'd been offered only a taste across the table.

Needless to say, we were looking forward to our main courses. Since Johnnie's seafood appetite was piqued rather than sated with our appetizer, she ordered another house specialty, linguini pescatore ($15.95). Its success lay simply in its ingredients -- cod, clams, mussels, shrimp and calamari -- being fresh, abundant and not overwhelmed by the sauce.

Proprietor Cusolito serves as an affable host, and he took pride in mentioning how when people ask for a taste of a sauce, they are disappointed -- there are no pots simmering all evening on a burner because Chef Fabio makes each sauce to order, even the marinara. On the al dente linguini, the pescatore's sauce of fresh tomatoes was delicate enough to allow each seafood taste to remain distinct, even through the garlic.

As good as that was, I would not have gone halvsies with my vitello saltimbocca ($15.95) had Johnnie suddenly turned carnivorous and growled at the sight of it. Provimi-tender veal, topped with a thin slice of smoky Parma prosciutto and mozzarella, was sautéed in butter, braised in white wine and lemon juice, and served over linguini. The name means "jumps in mouth," and those of my taste buds that weren't jumping were applauding.

We were told not to miss the tiramisú ($3.95). It was a sharable portion, with the coffee flavor nicely emphasized, rather than just an accent, in the espresso-soaked layer of sponge cake. I would have preferred to pay a buck more and have mascarpone replace one of the sweetened whipped cream layers, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

The day may come in Rhode Island when every other eatery is Italian, down to the sausage and peppers offered next to every Saugy stand. That sounds like a reasonable proportion. If you ask me, we can't have too much of a good thing.