Mark P.
Yelp
Last week we dined at Ristorante Avellino (339 East Falmouth Highway--Route 28 in Davisville). Avellino took over the restaurant which had been Josh's until this past July. While Avellino's is new, the owner/chef previously owned Il Maestro Ristorante in Hyannis and has been in the business for nearly three decades. Made reservations the "old-fashioned" way--by telephone--on Thursday. We arrived and were greeted by a friendly hostess, who then promptly seated us at our table for two at 6:30. The bar was full and most of the tables in the restaurant were filled with patrons as well. Ryan, our server, arrived with the ubiquitous question about water (we almost always prefer the locally sourced water--lol), returned with two waters, answered some questions we had about menu items, and then took drink orders--a glass for Pinot Grigio for my wife, and a Negroni for me. Ryan returned with the beverages and then in a few moments with a warm, mini loaf of beautifully crusty bread for dipping in the EVOO infused with a touch a garlic, oregano, and cheese. The bread and dipping oil were delicious. We ordered the Buffalo Mozzarrella salad to share. It was big, in fact most of the apps and salads we saw being delivered to other tables were also big, so sharing was the right decision here. In addition to the mozzarella the salad came with with prosciutto, tomatoes, red onions and Kalamata olives, finished with balsamic glaze. The salad was very tasty and we appreciated that the tomatoes were actually ripe and full of flavor--of course, this is the right time of year for ripe tomatoes. Our meals arrived shortly after we finished most of the salad. I ordered the Veal Francaise (veal is typically my "test" dish for a new Italian restaurant). Even though not noted on the menu, the dish (and I assume the other veal dishes as well) comes over your choice of pasta. When Ryan took our meal order I passed on the pasta--too many extra carbs for me right now. I was pleasantly surprised that he came back in a few minutes and asked if I would like a vegetable. I selected grilled asparagus. When the dish arrived, I was pleased that the veal was crisp on the outside but fork tender on the inside, the sauce on which it was placed was delicious (I could see how it would work well with a pasta), and the asparagus were perfectly grilled, cooked but still crisp. I also appreciate that the amount of veal served was just right. My wife ordered the Chicken and Sausage Carbonara served over a bed of linguine with pancetta, peas and parmesan cheese. It was an innovative take on a more traditional carbonara sauce which is made with pancetta or bacon, whisked eggs, and cheese. The sauce was lighter and infused with a small amount of sweet Marsala (I am guessing). Very tasty and different. My wife did her best, but did end up taking the remainder home for today's lunch (lol). At the time our meals arrived, I had ordered a second Negroni which alas did not arrive until I had almost finished my meal for which Ryan apologized (the ticket must have been lost he explained). No matter, it gave me something to sip on while I enjoyed watched my wife slowly savor her meal. Even though we saw a few tempting desserts coming out of the kitchen to diners with heartier appetites than ours, we were too satiated to pursue a third course of food. The restaurant was busy the entire time we were there, including table turnover which is always a good thing to see. Avellino seems to have kept at least some of the staff who had previously worked at Josh's (we recognized a few) and they seem to have enough staff to provide the kind of service people tend to expect. The attentive we received from Ryan was outstanding. We found the menu prices, across the board, to be quite reasonable as were the drink prices. We had a very pleasant and delicious evening, definitely worth a visit if you haven't tried it already.
