| Italian
Corner | 401.431.1737 | 10 Boyd
Ave, East Providence | Mon-Fri, 9:30 am-6:30
pm; Sat-Sun, 9:30 am-8:30 pm | Major credit
cards | BYOB | Sidewalk-level accessible |
We had to check out this
place after Genie said it made her feel like she was
back in Italy. Italian Corner is a market that
specializes in Italian food. It offers gourmet
grinders every day, but from 5:30 to 8:30 on
Saturday nights — and Friday nights, come August —
proprietor Osvaldo Pirrò comes out of retirement as
a master chef (Golden Fork Award and all) — to
provide dinner.
Deciding among the
antipasti took a while, not because the list was so
long (a half-dozen entrees), but because the
opportunities were so compelling. That and the
house-made tortellini in the chicken soup ($4.95)
was a good sign.
Johnnie’s eyes kept coming
back to the portobello al Gorgonzola ($11.50), and
mine to the carpaccio di bresaola ($13.50), the
arugula and white truffle olive oil getting my
attention. Taking our time was encouraged by the
flavorful and crisp-crusted Italian bread, made
there, and by a good olive oil packed with freshly
crushed garlic.
In the Continental
tradition, tap water is not served, thereby not
insulting your presumably refined palate. But San
Pellegrino, Panna, and Tavina mineral waters are
reasonably priced, at $2.99.
Our party of three was
well pleased after we decided to have the antipasto
($12.50). Johnnie got her Gorgonzola, which was
especially creamy, as well as provolone and Asagio;
I got two varieties of prosciutto, as well as
half-moons of salami; and we all enjoyed the roasted
mushrooms, marinated mushrooms, and artichoke heart.
The white anchovies were a salty treat.
The dozen pastas and
risotti posed difficult choices. Unusual items
included linguini alla Bottarga ($25), whose sauce
was made with an unusual variation on caviar: dried
tuna eggs.
But we went for the pasta
Norma ($14.15). Thin circles of fried eggplant
decorated the edge of the plate, while chunks of the
vegetable were tossed with San Marzano plum tomatoes
in the thick, yellow, fresh fettuccine noodles.
Ricotta dura was shaved on top, with more melting
within. There was enough for a delicious second
course for all of us.
We were told that the most
popular entrée that night was rabbit cacciatore.
Other unusual items included the Venetian-style
lasagna ($16.50) — with layers of Bechamel sauce as
well as Bolognese sauce; and King crab fra diavola
($26.50).
We hadn’t arrived very
hungry, so we intended to share an entrée as well as
the pasta. Of the eight meat and fish dishes, the
prospect of chicken picatta ($16.50) was the most
agreeable. It turned out to be even more pleasant in
actuality, with the two moist and tender chicken
cutlets in a wonderfully balanced sauce of lemon and
butter.
In their tradition of
Italian authenticity, decaffeinated coffee is not
available, only straight-up espresso and cappuccino
($2.99/$3.99). For dessert, you can have vanilla
gelato topped with a shot of hot espresso ($4.95) or
with Italian frutti di bocso liqueur ($6.95). We
chose tirami su ($4.95), which in their arrangement
was a bounty of whipped lightness on top, mascarpone
predominating, of course, and all the lady fingers
on the bottom generously soaked with espresso.
Milanese chef/proprietor
Pirrò, in a leisurely conversation afterward, said
that he didn’t want to run another restaurant, as he
has in California, Las Vegas, and elsewhere; too
much work and too much demand for inauthentic
dishes. (The menu declares: “We do not have: Swiss
cheese, American cheese, pepperoni, meatballs.
Grazie.”)
But two nights a week are
not too much with brother-in-law Massimo Dellolio as
sous chef, Josh Stiness helping them, and daughter
Lara Pirrò waiting tables, even though every day
they are baking bread, making pasta, handing items
over the deli counter and preparing those gourmet
grinders. That truffle-scented beef appetizer
mentioned above is among those sandwiches, for
$9.95, and tuna carpaccio once found its way there
for only $8.50.
As the Italian Corner did
six months ago, many a restaurant started out as a
gourmet shop or meat market. In Providence, the
late, lamented L’Epicureo is a prominent example.
But that expansion into
opulence was a cautionary tale. Let’s hope that Chef
Osvaldo and his amiable crew never take on so much
work that they stop having fun. Although we may
never get more than a two-night window to dine
there, we can always get a sopressata and provolone
grinder to whet our appetites on the other days.
Bill Rodriguez can be
reached atbill@billrod.com.
On the Web
Italian Corner: italiancorner-ri.com