Of course Italian food can be great. But that doesn’t explain the flood tide of Italian restaurants, from authentic trattorias and ristorantes to retro-red-sauce re-creations, that have opened here in the past half dozen years.
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My companion and I had a terrific version with earthy, rich porcini mushrooms and a touch of truffle oil and cheese ($10.95), plus another with mixed seafood, including shrimp and scallops, and a very light marinara sauce, garnished with some baby clams and mussels in the shell ($13.95). Both were exemplary versions of a dish that can easily be botched and usually is.
A neat appetizer, bombette ripiene is also made of rice, this time molded into a ball, given a minimal stuffing of beef and peas, then breaded and sauteed to a light crisp. A gentle tomato-based sauce tops it off ($3.25 and $5.95). Also good, but very stingy portions for either price ($5.95 and $11.95), were the mixed grilled vegetables–squash, onion, eggplant, red and green peppers, zucchini–hit with sweet-tart balsamic vinegar.
The osso buco here runs $11.95, and though the portion isn’t as large as at La Risotteria, it certainly is sufficient. The flavor is still there, the braised veal shank moist and tender, and the bone yields a healthy dollop of marrow–the real reason for ordering this dish. A couple of squares of crisply grilled polenta add crunch to the mix.
The pasta from the spring menu is really hearty. The minced duck breast in a fresh tomato sauce with basil, served over hefty fettuccine noodles, is great even if you don’t ordinarily like duck ($11.50). There’s usually only one risotto at Trattoria Gianni, served as a daily special. The spring menu adds another, which sounds odd but works amazingly well. Chunks of fresh salmon are worked into the rice mix, and halved strawberries are strewn over it, giving just the faintest hints of sweetness and acid that play well against the fish ($12.95).
