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Trattoria Lisina: Little Tuscany in the heart of Texas
While the explosion of restaurants in the heart of the city has been a welcome element of our city’s growth, sometimes one needs to leave his watch at home and escape the heated concrete of the city to decompress.
A trip out to Damian Mandola’s Trattoria Lisina offers a welcome change of pace and a chance to unwind, in true Italian fashion, for a meal that can stretch out its legs and linger for hours.
The 30-minute trip to Driftwood from downtown Austin may not transport you all the way to Siena, but the massive stone building set aside a winery just at the foot of the Central Texas Hill Country does its best to approximate the feeling of Tuscany.
Our helpful waiter directed us to an Allegrini Palazzo della Torre 2005 ($40) not listed on the menu, as the restaurant is apparently transitioning its wine selection and no Mandola reds were among the offerings Saturday night, that had a long finish with flavors of berries and raisins that went well with the meats (salami, prosciutto and mortadella) in our antipasti plate ($12). The asparagus on the plate, however, seemed an afterthought that crunched with more gusto than desired and lacked flavor, and the roasted onion could have benefited by forfeiting its plate space for a similarly cooked clove of garlic. We also submitted to the fried charms of the calamari which was accompanied best by the subtle piquancy of the peporoncini aioli, which went quickly.
As the plates, glasses and bottles begin to collect, you come to recognize one minor drawback of Lisina: the four-top tables do not offer adequate space for all of the food and drink you may desire. Fortunately, our waiter graciously and quickly offered a folding side table on which to place one of our serving plates. This lack of space could possibly be alleviated by serving meals at massive banquet tables, as they do in Siena’s contrade, but that may be a little too close for comfort.
While the tables are located relatively close to one another at Lisina, you do not have to worry about your conversation bleeding over to other tables, however, as the high ceilings and concrete floors make for an aurally rambunctious dining environment, despite the acoustic tiles covering the majority of the ceiling, that goes well with the restaurant’s communal famiglia experience. The tables ringing the central dining room, on what used to be the patio before the Texas sun proved itself more unbearable than its Tuscan counterpart, offer a slightly less noisy atmosphere, though not considerably so.
After finishing our first bottle and appetizers, we moved on to another recommendation from our knowledgeable waiter, a Castello Monaci Negroamaro ($40), the dark berry and slightly spicy aroma of which accompanied well our disparate main courses. It should be noted here that Mandola’s partner, Dr. Stan Duchman, apparently has an amazing personal wine collection, and the co-owner would be proud of his staff’s working knowledge of the bottles on hand at Lisina.
Head chef and general manager John Lichtenberger served on the opening team for (Michelin three star) Le Bernardin in New York City, currently under the culinary stewardship of Eric Ripert, and his French influences could be tasted in the rich Halibut special, which was pan seared and served in a decadent lemon butter sauce.
The Sicilian style breaded pork chop hid behind a bit too much breading but was punched up and topped with a moist and flavorful salad of mixed greens, cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, which provided zest to an otherwise unremarkable dish that left me reaching for my water.
The lasagna bolognese ($14) could have benefited from more seasoning and a stronger tomato presence, but the rotisserie chicken ($16) — another nod to France — was a pleasant surprise, its juicy, tender meat bursting from beneath its heavily seasoned and aromatic skin. The accompanying cucumber salad, with its colorful flavor components of red onions and cherry tomatoes, contrasted nicely the herbed, savory flavor of the succulent meat.
The table lay the two-plus hour meal to rest with a wonderful tiramisu ($8) which begged lustfully for just a nip more of rum and the eye-opening affogato ($4), which had us putting down our spoons to sip the creamy fusion of vanilla ice cream and espresso.
The best part of a meal at Lisina does not appear on the menu, however. It is the opportunity afforded one to slow down and let a meal to unfurl naturally with no accompanying anxiety as to where one must be after dinner. After all, if you’re going to get out of town for a relaxing dinner, the last thing you should be worried about is how quickly you need to get back to the city.
Trattoria Lisina [site]
13308 FM 150 West
Driftwood, TX 78619 [map]
Hours
Sunday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Monday, Closed
Tuesday - Thursday: Noon - 9 p.m.
Friday: Noon - 10 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment Categories: Food
Comments
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By localfoodie
July 26, 2009 6:43 AM | Link to this
Dead dogs and food don’t mix.
By Gross
July 26, 2009 11:29 AM | Link to this
Just don’t take your dogs with you.
By fabulousdrinksaustin
July 26, 2009 6:17 PM | Link to this
Sounds Fabulous!
By I've eaten there...
July 26, 2009 8:26 PM | Link to this
They wouldn’t take a reservation, too many kids running around acting like they were at the playground, it took over 45 minutes to get our salads - and that was after a 15 minute wait for someone to come to our table to take our drink orders. The food was good but the atmosphere is too noisy and not relaxing and the service too slow. And this was on a weeknight.
By Eddie
August 1, 2009 11:14 PM | Link to this
Why would anyone go to this place? By all means go there if mediocre, overpriced food is your thing. I hate the loud environment with little kids running and screaming everywhere. The wait staff is poorly trained and even the cooks need more training and supervision. Worst of all, the owner’s wife is a murderer of dogs and a selfish, neurotic and useless demon. DON’T EAT AT MANDOLA’S. YEEECCCCCCCH!
By Deed
August 2, 2009 1:33 AM | Link to this
It’s a beautiful place with great landscaping. The food was very good. I would go back at least once a month if it wan’t for the long distance from where I’m staying. I do agree about the noise. I did not expect it to be so noisy— taking away from the sophistication of a fancy italian restaurant. Now, if you know italy and have had a party with family there, it should not bother you. It’s how it is in an italian “get together”.
By pam
August 2, 2009 10:41 AM | Link to this
Bark…growl…Woof..
By Nsouthaustin
August 2, 2009 1:14 PM | Link to this
Doggone good! Eh, Damian
By pam
August 2, 2009 4:51 PM | Link to this
Growl..woof woof. You couldn’t pay me to step foot in there. Bark!
By liz
August 2, 2009 10:16 PM | Link to this
Can’t wait to eat there!