Italian restaurants Archives - Page 2 of 3

Café Roma (Cleveland, Tennessee)

January 6, 2016

Café Roma is a Cleveland, Tennessee favorite, and after my braised pork shoulder dish…I understand why! It’s a great Italian option for lunch or dinner.

So, for those of you who were wondering after you read my post about Yesterday’s at Willie’s, we ended back at Scott’s Furniture in Cleveland to buy the first sofa that we liked. Go figure. I know you guys are very interested in my personal life. It arrives today. It’s the little things, you know.

Anyway, going to purchase our new sofa meant that we needed to go back to Cleveland, so we decided to eat at another restaurant up there. It’s kind of a trek for us, so we don’t get a lot of opportunities to go up there unless we plan it out. We were torn between two places that were both pretty close to the furniture store (and both pretty highly rated on Yelp!), Café Roma and Taco Shack. Since I hadn’t done a post about an Italian restaurant in a good long time, we decided to go with Café Roma.

Café Roma is located in downtown Cleveland, very close to the courthouse and to Lee University. Unlike downtown Chattanooga, downtown Cleveland offers free two-hour parking on the street. I think I’ll move there (not really, but how nice!). We arrived around 1 p.m. and there were only a couple of other tables occupied, so we were seated immediately. Our server, Whitney, filled our water glasses and brought Philip a drink menu while we perused the lunch menu. They had a fairly small beer selection, but Philip decided on the Rogue Hazelnut brown ale and was very happy with it. I was intrigued by several of their cocktails but didn’t want to pay $8 or $9.

The night before we went, we watched In Defense of Food, a PBS documentary based on Michael Pollan‘s book by the same name (which you should read if you have not) (⬅️affiliate link). In the documentary, Pollan cut up crusty bread and piled it with fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and basil, then drizzled it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This led to Philip and me agreeing that we needed to order the caprese-fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic reduction-from the antipasti menu. It was served to us with a couple of pieces of what Whitney referred to as their house bread, which was pretty focaccia-ish. The only minor issue that I had with the caprese was that the tomato really wasn’t the greatest, but that’s what you get when you order something with fresh tomatoes in December. I can accept that, especially since with the other ingredients you didn’t really notice that it was a winter tomato. I just love caprese. I resolve to make more caprese in 2016. Amen and amen.

As I was perusing Yelp!, I read the menu for Café Roma and knew instinctively what I would order: braised pork shoulder. The braised pork shoulder consisted of chunks of braised pork shoulder (you weren’t expecting that, were you?), butternut squash, roasted red pepper, spinach, and linguine in a sauce consisting of some of the braising liquid and a brown butter sage sauce. And it.was.wonderful. The pork was amazingly tender and seasoned beautifully, the butternut squash was cooked well, and the roasted red peppers were actually roasted (I hate when you get a roasted red pepper that still has crunch to it). I would have liked to have tasted the sage a little more in the sauce, but it was still delicious, if a bit messy. That was only because my sorry self cannot twirl noodles for peanuts, so I ended up splashing broth all over the paper tablecloth like a two-year-old was sitting there. Oops. There was also a wedge of fresh focaccia served with the pasta.

Philip decided to go with the penne Bolognese, described as “penne pasta with a traditional rich meat sauce”. Bolognese sauce is traditionally a tomato sauce with meat (sometimes two or three types of meat) long-simmered with cream or milk added at the end. This sauce was more of an orange sauce than a red sauce, so it definitely had dairy added. It was a little bit spicy (probably red pepper) and didn’t have much in the way of chunks aside from the meat. Philip did say that he would have liked for it to have been a bit more meaty, but it was very good, very flavorful.

The prices are a bit higher for their dinner menu, but the lunch menu is very reasonably priced, with entrees and sandwiches ranging from $8.25 to $9.50 (they have a small selection of “dinner entrees” available for lunch priced from $12 to $19). Our total for Philip’s beer, the caprese ($8), my braised pork shoulder ($9.25), and Philip’s penne bolognese ($8.25) was $32.24. The atmosphere was very nice, with white tablecloths, fresh flowers on each table, and low lighting (and mouthwash in a St. Germain bottle in the ladies’ room-again, it’s the little things! Don’t worry, it had a pour spout and a stack of Dixie cups.) and Whitney was friendly and attentive. We enjoyed Café Roma very much and definitely recommend it for tasty Italian food!

Café Roma is located at 220 North Ocoee Street, Cleveland, Tennessee, 37311. They are open for lunch Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday-Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can call them at 423-339-1488. You can read more about Café Roma on their website, http://caferomatn.com/. You can also like Café Roma on Facebook.

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Il Primo Chattanooga

June 14, 2014

Il Primo Chattanooga is an Italian restaurant near Chattanooga’s North Shore serving Italian comfort food in a comfortable, neighborhood atmosphere.
Generally, Philip and I try to avoid the downtown Chattanooga area in the evenings during Riverbend at all costs, but a wedding downtown yesterday afternoon gave us an opportunity to try out il Primo Chattanooga, a new Italian restaurant opened by Nathan Lindley of Public House fame this past week in Riverview (North Chattanooga area)-in the old Greenlife location. I had heard and read some wonderful things about the restaurant, but honestly I wouldn’t have even realized that it had opened if not for my friend Matt who loves to make dining suggestions for me. Apparently this was no accident; their opening had been sort of a “soft” opening to allow the staff to get adequately trained. They don’t even have a sign yet, though Lindley told Philip that the sign should be up sometime next week.

We arrived at almost exactly 5 p.m. and were seated immediately by Mr. Lindley himself, then quickly served water by a very friendly guy (not our server) who talked to us briefly about the restaurant and the menu and returned to our table later for a little conversation. He told us that the idea behind Primo was to make it like a New York neighborhood Italian place and that Bruce Weiss of River Street Deli had actually consulted with them on the project to ensure authenticity. I certainly can’t attest to that authenticity as I have never been to NYC, but I can attest to the fact that the decor was clean, contemporary, and somehow dark (lots of wood and metal) while managing to be bright at the the same time (tons of windows). The menu is simple with just a few sections and just a few selections per section. See for yourself. Our server, Geoff, brought us some wedges of house made herbed focaccia with olive oil for dipping. It was tender, herbaceous, and amazingly delicious. We did not turn down offers for more with our meal and some to bring home with our leftovers. We decided to try the arancini telefono ($7). Arancini are fried balls of risotto stuffed with cheese; arancini means orange (because these kind of look like oranges) and of course telefono means telephone, apparently because the cheese strings out like a telephone wire? Anyway, these were served on a bed of house made marinara and they were very fresh and hot. The risotto is wrapped around a ball of mozzarella, rolled in flour, and fried and as Philip put it they were kind of like risotto hushpuppies…except better, because he doesn’t like hushpuppies but he loved these. The flavor was wonderful….not too cheesy but enough to have cheese in every bite, and the marinara was simple and delicious. It’s funny…I used to hate marinara before I started making it myself but now I realize that I just didn’t like marinara from a jar. But I digress. Typically we wouldn’t order an appetizer and salads, but since this was our first experience and we knew I would be writing about it we decided to go for it. Philip ordered his standard Caesar ($5), which was pretty straightforward: chopped romaine lettuce, house made dressing strong with garlic and anchovies, house made croutons, and grated parmesan. I know that saying you can taste the anchovy can freak some people out a little bit, but I don’t mean that this was a fishy dressing. It just tasted authentic. Don’t be afraid. It was delicious. I was planning to get the café salad ($5) with pecorino and Chianti vinaigrette until Geoff told us that there was a salad special: caprese ($5). When I hear caprese salad in the summertime I am rendered unable to order any other salad. The salad was made with farm-grown red and yellow tomatoes, a huge slab of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, olive oil, salt, and pepper. There was enough cheese and basil to have some in every bite and it had just the right amount of oil and seasoning. Perfectly simple and delicious. I was torn between the eggplant parmesan ($14, which included a side of my choosing) and the lasagna Bolognese ($16), so I asked Geoff for a recommendation. He told me that the eggplant parm is delicious but he highly recommended the lasagna, with a slow-simmered house Bolognese that contained three meats-house ground beef, veal, and pork sausage-and house made sheets of spinach pasta. This was a gigantic portion that Philip bet me I couldn’t finish when it came…I jokingly bet him that I could, knowing darn well it couldn’t be done. Besides, if I finished it, what would I have for lunch the next day? The bottom layer was the thick, meaty bolognese sauce with tender veal, a slight spice of Italian sausage, and the heft of beef, with just a touch of creaminess. The meat was topped with layers of house made spinach and regular pasta, followed by a thin layer of béchamel and finished with a layer of melted cheese. It was rich, simple, filling…some of the best lasagna I’ve ever had. I don’t really make lasagna much at home but this gives me a goal to shoot for! Philip considered the trout but eventually decided on the pork scallopini ($16), heirloom Cheshire pork sirloin cutlets pounded thin, breaded, fried off and served with a lemon-butter and caper sauce. For his side he chose spaghetti with marinara, which Jeff told us was not made in-house but was imported from Italy. It was cooked to a perfect al dente and served with just enough of that simple marinara to coat; Jeff also brought Philip a little cup of grated parmesan to sprinkle over the top. The meat was perfectly tender (heirloom pork doesn’t have the fat bred out of it!), fried wonderfully crisp, and served with just the right amount of sauce, tangy but not sour, buttery but not greasy, and just enough capers for a zip of flavor. Philip’s difficulty was resisting eating his second portion so that he would also have leftovers for lunch Il Primo Chattanooga is a beautiful space and when someone asks me for an Italian recommendation this will definitely be a place that I tell them about. It’s the kind of place that you can feel comfortable bringing your kids to but you could also come with just your significant other for a special-occasion meal. The staff was friendly and extremely accommodating; several staff members stopped by our table to pick up dishes we were finished with, replace our water carafe, bring items to us, or just speak to us. The prices were not cut-rate, for sure, but they were reasonable (our pre-tip price, including a Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA, was $60). I am sure that as the word gets out the crowds will increase, but this place is worth it.

Il Primo Chattanooga is serving delicious Italian comfort food…you will definitely want to check it out!

Il Primo Chattanooga is located at 1100 Hixson Pike, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-602-5555. You can like Il Primo Chattanooga on Facebook or check out their website (which at this time is just a static page). I did not find a listing of their hours but I believe that they are open for dinner Monday-Saturday (I will update when I get correct hours).
Other restaurants in this area: Tremont Tavern, The Farmer’s Daughter, Vine Street Market Other Italian restaurants in downtown Chattanooga: Tony’s Pasta, Alleia

Marco’s Italian Bistro (Chattanooga North Shore) (CLOSED)

March 31, 2013

Marco’s Italian Bistro was an Italian restaurant, now closed, that was located on Chattanooga’s North Shore (Frazier Avenue).

Well, kiddies, spring break is almost over. This teacher is feeling a little sad. While winter break is two weeks long and sates me for a little while, fall and spring breaks are just a blasted week and always leave me longing for more, especially when the weather is colder at the end of March than it was in December and I spend the whole week trying to hide out in my house wearing knee socks and fuzzy slippers to avoid freezing to death.

Finally on Thursday the weather started warming up a bit, enough to be outside without a coat at least. Philip and I went downtown to St. Mark’s United Methodist (in the north Chatt area) to check out their Faith Marks exhibit (about the spiritual meaning behind people’s tattoos) with out friend Rachel. Very, very interesting (you may not know that I am married to a, um, tattoo enthusiast, or that I have a couple myself). After checking it out, we headed to the North Shore for dinner. Not too many places left in that area that haven’t been blogged about, so it came down to North Chatt Cat or Marco’s. Obviously, Marco’s won.

We got there around 6:45 or 7 and were seated immediately. Our server, Frank, quickly took our drink orders and let us know the specials: housemade butternut squash ravioli with either cajun cream sauce or citrus pesto, and some variety of filet (I think it was filet, anyway….definitely a steak of some sort). We set to perusing the menu, which consisted of appetizers, salads, chef’s specials, create your own pasta, pizzas, and desserts.

Frank brought us some bread, an herbed focaccia with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and red pepper for dipping. It was pretty tasty and I especially liked the crunchy outside texture of the triangles. I decided to order a half spinach salad (spinachio on the menu), which is definitely out of character for me since it contained goat cheese, which is just not my thing. However, it also contained pancetta, dried cherries, and roasted walnuts, which are all my thing, and was served with a tangy red wine honey vinaigrette. Full disclosure, I don’t really care for goat cheese because it tastes “musty” to me, but combined with all of the other delicious flavors in the salad, I didn’t find the goat cheese at all off-putting and it may have inspired me to try goat cheese (in small amounts) in combination with other strong flavors to see if I can increase my appreciation of it! Philip decided on a half Caesar (Appassito insalata Caesar) on the menu, which was a grilled romaine heart served with creamy Caesar dressing and a gigantic parmesan cracker (a frico). The menu said there were croutons with the salad but there were not any on his, though with the crunchy parmesan croutons were not necessary. The creamy dressing was really good and the frico was delicious. Philip liked it but I do tend to prefer a more traditional chopped romaine Caesar. Rachel decided on a cup of the bisque di pomodoro, tomato basil bisque drizzled with olive oil. It was slightly creamy, thick, with visible pieces of basil. I didn’t taste it, but Rachel enjoyed it.

As soon as Frank announced that butternut squash ravioli was a special I knew what I was going to order. I decided to top it with the cajun cream. It also came with sautéed spinach in the middle. The spinach was garlicky and perfectly cooked. The portion of ravioli was perfect, just enough for dinner so I wasn’t stuffed after. The raviolis had a decent amount of filling, not overstuffed but not skimpy either, and the filling was sweet and squashy. I liked the cajun cream but wish it had been just a little more spicy. Yes, I’m a bit of a wimp, but when dishes are supposed to be spicy I do like to taste at least a little bit of spice. I would have liked a tangible amount of grated parmesan (instead of the powdery white stuff you can see here) on top. Still, I liked this dish and would order it again.

I didn’t take Philip long to settle on the chicken piccata, which is chicken breasts pounded thin, lightly breaded and sautéed, and topped with a light lemon-caper sauce. Marco’s serves theirs on a gigantic bed of arugula. Frank asked Philip if he wanted to sub a side for the arugula…apparently a lot of people don’t notice that part of the menu and are taken aback when the chicken arrives atop all that arugula. Philip, however, loves arugula and definitely wanted it. There was definitely a lot of arugula and a good-sized portion of chicken. The sauce was lightly drizzled over the whole dish. It was light and lemony, not overpowering, and the arugula was very fresh and not wilty at all except in the spots where the warm chicken had touched. Philip really liked this dish and would definitely order it again.

Rachel decided on the baked ziti, ziti mixed with tomato-meat sauce and baked in a crock with mozzarella on top. Wow, this was a large portion. Rachel didn’t make it through too much of it and took home probably enough for at least two meals. There was a ton of cheese on top….I don’t know how “traditional” that is (or how traditional baked ziti is, for that matter) but I definitely never argue with a blanket of mozzarella. The pasta was not swimming in tomato sauce but was nicely coated and there was a good amount of meat, though it was sausage, not beef, which is what I expect in a meat sauce around these parts. I tasted the pasta; the sauce had a strong tomato flavor and the cheese was nice and melty, though I avoided the meat because I’m just not a fan of Italian sausage.

Philip saw crème brûlée on the menu and knew he had to have it before we had even ordered our meal. He sees crème brûlée on a menu and develops a one-track mind. The crème brûlée was good, flecked with vanilla bean with the whole cold/warm dynamic going on, but it wasn’t turning cartwheels great. It was crème brûlée, and you really have to do something amazing with crème brûlée to really blow me away since it’s one of those things I can make at home (restaurant meals tend to become less impressive when you start cooking everything at home).

I liked the food at Marco’s but it was a little pricier than I expected; I had a bit of sticker shock over the end bill, about $45 before tip for my & Philip’s meal (2 half salads, a pasta special, the chicken piccata, and the crème brûlée). …but we don’t usually order dessert so I guess that’s what kind of threw us over the top. Frank was friendly and attentive as were the hostesses and the atmosphere was pretty nice. If you are on the North Shore and looking for some Italian food, give Marco’s a try!

Marco’s is located at 417 Frazier Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37405. You can call them at 423-710-2568. Check out their website, http://marcoschattanooga.com and “like” them on Facebook. They are open Monday-Saturday from 4-10 p.m. and are also open for brunch 11-3 on “special occasion” Sundays like Easter (that’s today, so if you are interested give them a call!) or Mother’s Day.

Alleia Restaurant-July 14, 2012

July 14, 2012

Choosing a restaurant at which to eat for our anniversary (number eleven!) was somewhat of a challenge this year. Initially I wanted to go to The Meeting Place, the more casual sister of St. John’s, but as the date got closer I began to add more and more restaurants to the list. Saturday morning there were five restaurants. I had talked to Philip’s sister on Friday and she highly recommended Alleia, then Saturday morning Philip talked to her as well and again she emphasized how wonderful the food was. Why not? We booked a reservation for 6 p.m. and headed to Main Street.

It’s funny, because I was always a little foggy about exactly where Alleia (pronounced a-LEE-a) was located. Turns out, I drive past it every Wednesday as I head to the farmers market. It’s on Main, right after you turn from Market, in the building right before The Soho. A large metal sculpture serves as something of a landmark. The huge wood door with the large metal ring handle is quite impressive. We walked in and were quickly seated by a hostess who told us that we did not look old enough to have been married eleven years (stop it! You flatter.). We were indeed hardly more than children when we wed, but it has worked out well for us!

We were seated at a booth, a very private booth with walls on three sides. While we were perusing the menu, we took in the ambiance….slightly dimly lit, but not dark (although I do need to apologize for the poor lighting of the photos….nicer restaurants rarely have lighting conducive to great photography), with beautiful worn looking walls. We were seated near a large lighting feature of candles with wax forming a mantel of sorts as well as a base on the floor; very unique and interesting. Also interesting was the heavy wool blanket decorating the wall; light grey plaid, it looked and felt like a horse blanket. The kitchen was open, and I enjoyed watching the guys work (although I wished that I could stand at the counter and really watch them work….but I suppose I would had missed out on my anniversary meal with my husband then, wouldn’t I?

The menu at Alleia is divided into six parts: antipasti (appetizers), insalate (salad), primi (first courses-all pasta dishes), secondi (main courses-meat-based entrées), pizzas, and contorni (side dishes). There was also a specials list, with one or two specials for each menu section, and a Vino (wine) menu. We had a difficult time choosing our antipasti…the bruschettas (one with ricotta and honey, the other with cannellini beans and roasted peppers) sounded wonderful, and I was very interested in the arancini (basically breaded and fried rice balls) with mozzarella and meat sauce…but the dates wrapped in Benton’s bacon with a balsamic and olive oil drizzle sounded wonderful, and that is what we finally decided to order. It arrived about the same time as our bread, a portion of a fresh Italian loaf (made in-house) with lots of olive oil and garlic on top. We were not disappointed in our choice. Just the scent from the dates was enough to send us over the edge….smoky and sweet. Both the dates and the bacon were tender enough to cut through easily, and the savory/sweet combination was perfect. Our server, Arturo, even encouraged us to sop the olive oil and vinegar with our bread.

The Bob Jones salad (with Bob Jones lettuce, gorgonzola, and strawberries), sounded lovely, as did the Caesar salad with romaine lettuce and shaved grana padano cheese, but I could not resist the insalate special for the day, a caprese salad. They divided the salad between two plates for us; it was a combination of sliced heirloom tomatoes and wedged tomatoes, with a chunk of mozzarella, a basil chiffonade, and again, a balsamic and olive oil drizzle. Delicious. The tomatoes were in that perfectly ripe stage, so juicy and drippy, and the cheese was fresh and amazing. Again, I sopped up the wonderful juices with the bread. Perfect. I kept waxing on and on about how the most amazing food is usually the most simple. Philip is surely a patient man to listen to all this food jargon all the time….but then again, he certainly has benefitted from it over the years.

I was so tempted to order a pizza. All of the topping combinations sounded impressive (especially proscuitto, arugula, and smoked mozzarella), and they are all neopolitan-style pizzas (thin, crispy….perfect) cooked in a 750 degree wood-fired oven. Shut your mouth, Arturo. However, I guess my desire to try the handmade pasta was stronger, so I asked Arturo to make a recommendation between the ricotta ravioli with zucchini and cremini mushrooms and the angel hair pasta with Gulf shrimp and cherry tomatoes. Rather than really make a “recommendation”, he gave me a very detailed description of each dish. Finally, I decided on the ravioli. Filled with ricotta lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, the ravioli is served in an herbed butter and white wine sauce with quartered cremini (baby portobello) mushrooms, very thinly sliced (almost shaved) zucchini, and red and yellow tomatoes with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. My. Word. This was, without question, the best ravioli I had ever had. Ever. The sauce was perfectly seasoned, the pasta so tender and the ricotta so fresh tasting. Amazing.

While the secondi menu had a variety of tempting options, like Maple Leaf Farm duck breast and the secondi special pork osso buco (which I briefly considered before deciding I must order pasta) Philip took one look and knew immediately what he would order: wood-fired pork shoulder with grilled peaches. All of the dishes on the secondi menu are served with perfectly roasted red potatoes and red cabbage. First of all, pork shoulder is not something that you often see on a menu at an upscale restaurant, so I was very interested to see the execution. It was served in a cohesive chunk (sorry, that word is so unappetizing, but I couldn’t think of a better one!) but was amazingly tender. Philip was able to simply use his fork to pull bites of meat from it. He definitely had one of those eyes-rolling-into-your-head moments when he first took a bite of it…the tenderness, the smoky flavor from the wood-fired oven, the seasoning…everything worked together fabulously. The red potatoes were also delicious, perfectly browned and with a wonderful grilled flavor. I didn’t taste the cabbage, but Philip said it was very good. The peaches were delicious, with a perfect grilled flavor. I love grilled peaches. We both could have finished our entrees, but we needed to save room for dessert, so Arturo boxed up our leftovers (and our bread!) for us.

We were sincerely hoping for the dessert special, summer fruit cobbler with basil gelato (!), but apparently we should have made our reservation for when they opened at 5 p.m. rather than waiting until 6. They were all out by the time we ordered! The dessert menu consisted of a handful of specialty desserts (tiramisu, panna cotta, and a flourless chocolate cake) and several flavors of gelato (Italian ice cream, more dense with less air than American ice cream). We decided to order the flourless chocolate cake, served with strawberries, fresh whipped cream, and cinnamon gelato, made with cinnamon sticks, not packaged ground cinnamon. The cake was dark, rich, dense….the whipped cream light, barely sweetened, and the gelato had a wonderful texture with a strong cinnamon flavor. By the way….I will be making basil gelato soon. I have to, it’s a must.

Alleia is owned by Daniel Lindley, the renowned chef who also owns St. John’s and The Meeting Place (he was nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2009, 2010, and 2012). This is certainly another hit for Lindley….amazing, simple, perfect food, much of it sourced locally. Basically everything that can be purchased locally, is, and other ingredients are imported from Italy, adding to the authenticity. Let me say…it was not inexpensive. Certainly this is a special occasion dining spot, but worth saving up for. Besides, think of all of the local business you support when you dine here-not just Alleia, but all of the local farms and producers from which they obtain ingredients. The atmosphere was beautiful, and the execution of service and cuisine spot on.

Alleia is located at 25 East Main Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408. You can call them at 423-305-6990. You can learn more at their website, http://alleiarestaurant.com/. They also have a Facebook page.

Nino’s Pastaria-June 16, 2012

June 18, 2012

Saturday afternoon found Philip and I trying to find somewhere a little out of the ordinary to eat. We didn’t want to go downtown for fear that we may end up in the melee that was the last night of Riverbend, and we’ve just about exhausted our Hixson restaurant options. Philip asked me if there was anywhere we could go on Signal Mountain, then he suggested Pastaria (also known as Nino’s, which I didn’t know until recently).

Since it was in between lunch and dinner (it was about 2:30 or 3:00), there was only one other couple there and we had our pick of tables. The inside of the restaurant was very nice, clean, not overly decorated but not too sparsely decorated at the same time, with rows of square tables diagonally placed throughout the large dining room. Since it was a little cooler on the mountain, we decided to sit outside. Lisa, our server, was very friendly and quickly took our drink orders and brought us a menu and bread. We also ordered bruschetta, which was delivered quickly by Sara, the manager, who was also cooking on this particular day.

The bread is made in-house, as is the butter, which you know made my day. The bread wasn’t super-hot but it tasted pretty good and the butter was delicious (of course!). The bruschetta was delicious, small slices of a thin loaf (a baguette, I assume) grilled and topped with a tomato-garlic relish, melted mozzarella and parmesan, and fresh basil (several herbs are growing in boxes beside the patio, and when we asked, Lisa told us that they do use them in some of the cooking).

I had a hard time deciding what to order. They serve pizzas, which all sounded good, but I wanted to get pasta and finally decided on the funghi bianchi….penne pasta in a creamy sauce with sliced mushrooms. I also ordered a salad. The salad was meh, not bad but not really anything to write home about. It was chopped romaine topped with pecorino romano and served with the balsamic vinagrette that’s out in a bottle on the table. I just like for my salads to have a little more interest, is all….

I did really like my pasta, though. The sauce was creamy but not heavy, seasoned nicely. The flavor of mushrooms really permeated the sauce and the mushrooms were perfectly cooked, not underdone so they were dry but also not overdone so they were shriveled. The pasta was al dente….it was just dried pasta, not handmade, so it’s not an, um, “artisinal pasta experience”, but how many of those do you get to have? I liked it and I would definitely order it again.

Philip decided on the carbonara. Traditional carbonara is a bacon and egg pasta…..hot pasta with bacon and egg mixed in. The residual heat from the pasta cooks the egg. Many restaurants shy away from this traditional approach and instead basically pour cream sauce over pasta, mix in some bacon, and call it carbonara. Nino’s takes the traditional approach, even using pancetta (Italian bacon, unsmoked) instead of regular bacon. You can also order asparagus instead of pancetta, but why would you want to do that? Philip, of course, decided on the pancetta. He was really impressed by the carbonara. It was fresh, salty, and just barely creamy from the eggs (by the way, the pasta in the dish was spaghetti). I tasted it. It was delicious.

We decided to order some spumoni ice cream, because I puffy-heart love spumoni. In case you didn’t know, spumoni is kind of an Italian neopolitan ice cream…made with chocolate, cherry, and pistachio ice cream. So good. They also serve chocolate mousse, tiramisu, and gelato (which is Italian ice cream, a little denser than American ice cream).

Nino came in while we were there and came out to work some on the plants out front. He came to our table and talked to us…he was very friendly and welcoming. Our server was also extremely friendly and helpful. We had a great experience. Apparently Nino’s has gotten some bad press recently and they are working hard to try to make a comeback. They have been in this location for 17 years, so apparently they’ve been doing something right all these years. If you haven’t tried it, I recommend you check it out and form your own opinion!

Nino’s Pastaria is located at 720 Mississippi Avenue, Signal Mountain, TN 37377. You can reach them at 423-886-1900. They do not have a website or Facebook page at this time, but you can view their menu on their Urbanspoon page (click on the Urbanspoon icon below).

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