RESTAURANTS: Amalfi's Italian has Barakat's golden touch

Caprese at Amalfi's involves marinated grape tomatoes, cherry-size buffalo
mozzarella and fresh basil over a balsamic vinaigrette.
Caprese at Amalfi's involves marinated grape tomatoes, cherry-size buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil over a balsamic vinaigrette.

— Amalfi is a town in the Italian province of Campania, at the center of the Amalfi coast, south of Naples on Italy's Mediterranean seaboard.

Amalfi's is the latest restaurant venture for Jerry Barakat, on the back side, upper level, of the Village at Rahling Road, where Barakat previously operated Gaucho's, which he has moved, and Blue Agave, and Sesame's, which he has closed.

Place

Amalfi's

27 Rahling Road, Little Rock, AR

Amalfi's

Barakat started his multifaceted Little Rock restaurant career in 1979 with Mediterranean cuisine at the Terrace, now in its fourth location and called Terrace on the Green. Now, after opening restaurants with Spanish, South American, Asian-fusion and Caribbean-Mexican menus (not to mention a Morton's-style steakhouse), he turns to Italian food.

Amalfi's decor and menu lean more toward Tuscany than Campania. Just inside the entryway you get a good view of the large convex bar with copper-tiled walls suggesting a Tuscan villa. A hand-painted fresco above the bar adds to the mosaic mood with a pair of Roman Republiclooking faces, male and female (spoiled a bit by a large pipe prominently emerging from the woman's forehead). Beyond the bar are large wall wine racks and a flat rock wall fountain.

Near the entrance hangs a huge quasi-coral chandelier that doesn't quite match anything else in the restaurant but is impressive nonetheless. Seating is at granite-topped tables, some free-standing, some as banquette-style booths, with cross-table runners rather than tablecloths.

Flanking a central fake fireplace on the side wall are pillared alcoves with an array of eyecatching and colorful sculpted glassware. A short loop of Italian songs (a couple featuring Andrea Bocelli) emerges from the sound system. You can dine al fresco on the patio.

The high-end decor is designed to match the high-end, mostly northern Italian menu. Amalfi's eschews heavy southern Italian red sauces in favor of bechamel, olive oil and cream. And almost everything that comes out of the kitchen features Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and/or grape tomatoes either as a component or a garnish.

First among our four firstrate openers is the Calamari all Amalfitana ($11), sauteed with garlic, olive oil, red peppers, shallots, lemon and basil. The squid strips were just the right consistency, slightly chewy but not rubbery, and we couldn't get enough of the sauce.

Amalfi's tasty Carpaccio Piemontese ($12) is a wide, thin slice of prosciutto (a type of Italian ham), not nearly raw beef as we expected, slightly awash in lemon-accented olive oil, topped with peppers, arugula and some ragged slices of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

The Caprese appetizer ($9), is cherry-size fresh buffalo mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes, rather than slices of mozzarella and tomato, garnished with a little bit of fresh basil over a fairly sturdy balsamic vinaigrette, all of which we practically inhaled.It also comes with chunks of beets, the lurking presence of which we somehow missed on the menu and which we resolutely left upon the plate.

The Salumi meat and cheese plate ($9) is large enough to share, three slices each of imported salami, spicy copa, dark-red soprasata and hamlike braseaola), some chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano, two mozzarella balls and some tartly pickled gherkins.

Those seeking something lighter should consider the Minestrone all Toscana ($6), somewhere between a cup and a bowl of fairly mild broth well loaded with vegetables and bits of pasta. Adding grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, as we did, will give it a little more kick.

The Caesar salad ($8) was a bit of a disappointment, hearts of romaine topped with a fairly tame "signature Caesar dressing" that we recall, not entirely fondly, from other Barakat enterprises. As with the minestrone, adding grated cheese helped, but not enough. (Perhaps if the kitchen added another anchovy or two to the mix?)

Intrepid Companion chose the best of the entrees, Porcini Ravioli Di LaFrance ($19), firm pasta pockets stuffed with porcini mushrooms surrounded by a champagne cream and shiitake mushroom sauce sprinkled with black truffles, with side grilled asparagus.

The Osso Buco ($28) is the best we've had since the late Vermillion Bistro's top-of-the-line version, strongly braised in red wine and served with a vivid wild mushroom sauce over risotto. The shank bone is properly split so you can scoop out the marrow if you're so inclined. It, too, came with a couple of grilled asparagus spears.

The kitchen switched the pasta under the two entrees we tried on our first visit: Spaghettini Pomodoro ($14) in a chunky tomato sauce with basil and, yes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, came with linguine, while the Scampi Fra Diavolo ($21), six plump shrimp in a spicy marinara, which was supposed to be over linguine, came on the thin pasta instead. No big deal.

Intrepid Companion found the pomodoro sauce sweet, while we found it a trifle tomato-acid bitter. Either way, it didn't quite work for us.

The Fra Diavolo had a slight spicy bite but wasn't as red-peppery as it might have been. It also came with chunks of eggplant, not unpleasant but certainly unexpected, and perhaps a mushroom slice or two. Further inspection of the menu turnedup the Capellini alla Arrabbiata ($15), angel-hair pasta "with eggplant and wild mushrooms in a spicy marinara sauce," which spurred a nagging suspicion that what we got was actually Shrimpalla Arrabbiata.

None of the pasta dishes comes with anything extra, so consider investing in one of the $6 sides - we can recommend the sauteed spinach and garlic, a little oily but with plenty of garlic zing; the Asparagus ala Parmigiana, lightly crusted with cheese and pepper; or the quite nice rosemary potatoes.

The wedge of Key lime pie on the dessert tray looked too good to pass up, and it justified our moment of weakness, of a good consistency and just tart enough, with a moist and crumbly graham-cracker crust. Be wary, though - the waitress didn't mention it was $7.

Also be wary of the bottled water offer, because the wait staff won't reveal up front unless you ask that it's $4 a small bottle for the still spring water and $6 for the larger bottle of sparking San Pellegrino. Decline and they'll bring you water from a pitcher at no charge.

The wine list is heavily stocked with big Tuscan, super-Tuscan and Piedmont reds (including a Barolo and an Amarone) but skimps on the whites.

Diners get square miniloaves of artisan bread with butter upon sitting down. On our first visit, the pre-appetizer loaves were a little spongy; fresher ones came with our entrees. Alas, in between we had no bread, and we would have liked some to sop up the leftover calamari sauce.

Our second-visit waitress was much looser and friendlier than our first waiter, who was so stiff and formal that it was discomforting to deal with him, especially when he started recommending appetizers as "Amalfi's favorites."

Unsolicited advice from a server makes us a little edgy anyway. Aside from that, with the place having been open about a week, there can't have been enough customers to actually establish "Amalfi's favorites."

Barakat, in his higher-end establishments, has become a stickler for doing things just so - wait staff pulls out crumbing tools between courses, and staff members not involved in service wander the dining room making sure no piece of tableware or any part of the forest of glassware - every place setting starts out with a water glass and a balloon wine glass - is even minutely out of place.

Amalfi's Address: Village at Rahling Road, 27 Rahling Road, Little Rock Hours: 5-9:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday Cuisine: Italian Credit cards: V, MC, AE, D Alcoholic beverages: Full bar Reservations: Yes Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes (501) 821-1814; (501) 821-1828

Weekend, Pages 67 on 09/26/2008

Upcoming Events