Andiamo

Small Italian restaurant works to fend off new competition

It's tough to be a David trying to make a living within a stone's throw of a new gang of Goliaths.

That's what is happening to Andiamo, the upscale Italian restaurant in a strip center on Rutland Drive near Burnet Road. A relatively short distance away, in the new Domain shopping center, a numbe.... More

Small Italian restaurant works to fend off new competition

It's tough to be a David trying to make a living within a stone's throw of a new gang of Goliaths.

That's what is happening to Andiamo, the upscale Italian restaurant in a strip center on Rutland Drive near Burnet Road. A relatively short distance away, in the new Domain shopping center, a number of well-heeled eateries have taken up residence or will soon. In less than a year, Andiamo's local competition will have increased exponentially.

So what's a restaurateur to do?

"I realized that situation," says Andiamo's new owner, Joe Melomo, "so the first thing I did was to go to the Domain and the Arborteum." There, he found that the rent would be four times what he now pays, which rendered a move impractical. He decided to stay put and move aggressively to meet the competition.

On Sept. 1, he says, Andiamo will open a private dining room that can seat up to 40 for parties, holiday gatherings and business meetings. He also will use that space for wine tastings and movie nights, events meant to attract customers and turn them into regulars.

The restaurant also recently initiated "Passporta d'Italia" to introduce patrons to food from the various regions of Italy. By changing the featured region each month, the eatery hopes to educate diners and bring them back for more.

Melomo has been asking diners how they view Andiamo and their experience there. The overwhelming response, he says, is: "Don't go away. Stay here. We love you the way you are."

One reason they have that attitude, he says, is that they recognize that "we try to do everything very, very well." To maintain that quality, Melomo employs three chefs: John Braga (with an East Coast fine-dining background), Jose Lopez (with similar experience in California) and Ambrosio Buraglia (whose family has restaurants in California and Italy).

"We're not perfect, but we're striving hard," says Melomo.

A recent dinner there confirms that assessment.

The appetizer that launched the meal, the Lumache Andiamo ($11), was superb. It featured a mound of tender sautéed escargot ringed by several equally delicious mussels on the half shell, all accompanied by a lemon-white wine sauce.

The salad of arugula and Parmesan ($8) was simple but perfectly executed, with the greens coated in a balsamic vinaigrette and topped with paper-thin slices of the cheese.

The housemade pappardelle ($19.50) formed a pasta dish that was as good as any you can find in the city. Tossed with pancetta, onion, porcini mushrooms and a light cream sauce, the thick ribbons of pasta had been cooked to the proper al dente stage and provided a great base for the winning sauce.

The entrées — prosciutto-wrapped shrimp stuffed with crab ($18) in a white wine-shallot sauce and pork tenderloin ($22) stuffed with spinach, ricotta, fontina and prosciutto in a marsala-mushroom sauce — were tasty and tender. However, both dishes were served with the same sides: mashed potatoes and carrots. A restaurant of Andiamo's caliber, in my view, should tailor the side dishes to each entrée rather than having an all-purpose duo.

For dessert, the cheesecake ($6) was drier than the lusciously creamy confection I recalled from my last visit. The zabaglione ($6), on the other hand, was lovely. A chilled version of the classic Italian dessert, it combined the traditional marsala-egg yolk mixture with whipped cream and was served over fresh strawberries.

Service at Andiamo brought the evening's only serious flaw: inconsistent treatment of diners. One server began taking our order, but then engaged in such a long, relaxed conversation with other diners that another waiter stepped in to pick up. We were not offered bread and olive oil, as all the other tables around us were, and we were not offered Parmesan for our pappardelle, as other diners were.

It's not enough to give superior service to regulars. You have to give it to everyone who walks through the door. Especially if you're a David trying to fend off a gang of Goliaths.

drice@statesman.com; 445-3859

Brief