Giancarlo Continues A Delicious Tradition

Restaurant review

Giancarlo Ristorante and Pizzeria, 4624 SW 320th, Federal Way. 838-1101/927-1510. Open Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday 4-11 p.m. Reservations accepted (recommended weekends). Personal checks, V/MC. Wheelchair-accessible. Non-smoking area. Bear, wine, cocktail lounge. Carryout available. -------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL WAY - Ask Guiseppe Nappo about the portrait that hangs in his restaurant, and he proudly brings it down from the wall to show you.

"That's my father and me as a child, outside our restaurant (La Sirena) on the beach at Naples," Nappo says beaming. "It was only open during the summer. My wife painted it from a photograph. Isn't that wonderful?"

Family is important to "Peppe," as he insists on being called, and the family-run Giancarlo - with its warm red colors, soft lighting, opera sound-tracks and travelogue decor - has "family" stamped all over it.

Nappo emphasizes authenticity by using only his father's and other Neapolitan recipes, cooking many himself. Dishes on the predominantly southern Italian menu are prepared only with the freshest ingredients.

Nappo's thick-crusted, heavenly homemade bread is "basic Naples peasant bread" made the natural way without cultures. (Nappo leaves it out for eight hours so that it breaks down just right.) He sells two varieties out of the restaurant, both hugely popular, and a loaf of either - with Nappo's flavorful garlic herb butter - is delicious and filling enough to make an entire meal. "People stock up in the Christmas season with six or seven loaves at a time," he said. "I wish I had more time to make more bread."

Before opening Giancarlo four years ago, Nappo ran a neighborhood Italian restaurant in Philadelphia for 10 years. (He still maintains an interest in the establishment.) Nappo chose Giancarlo's neighborhood location at the very western extent of Southwest 320th (look for the gas pumps belonging to another tenant in the strip mall) especially to cater to families.

"I have a phobia about cities," the genial restaurateur admits. "Since I came to America I always stay in neighborhoods. People are fearful in cities. But families always come back to neighborhoods.

"I get a lot of repeat family business. I don't want to have one of those city restaurants that are a little bit too trendy - (patronized by) guys who want to impress girls. If you establish your business in a neighborhood, they keep coming back. As long as you're fair with them and do an honest trade, they come back."

The menu emphasizes fresh Puget Sound seafood, pasta, chicken, veal, steak and pizza. Pastas (all the standards and also with clams, mussels, shrimp and salmon) come with bread and soup or salad; the other dinners add a side pasta dish to the same. Almost every entree is plenty big enough for two.

Case in point: the veal valdostanna ($16.95) - several huge slices of lightly breaded veal medallions, sauteed in a sherry-garlic sauce and topped with prosciutto and mozzarella. The veal was so tender it almost melted in the mouth, and the bed of spinach it came on was cooked just to the perfect point of tenderness.

Nappo's linguini alla Caruso ($12.95) alone would be enough to assure his career in any big city. Long, thick strips of broiled chicken are sauteed with fresh basil, Roma tomatoes and garlic, and served over a textbook example of pasta al dente. The penne all' Arrabiata ($10.95.) features onions and thick slices of hot Italian sausage (made with crushed red peppers) in a spicy but sparsely applied red sauce - the entire dish standing 5 inches tall.

Nappo's seafood antipasto ($6.95) is an exquisite blend of calamari, clams, mussels and poached prawns (six each) in a delicate wine and herb butter sauce. The perfectly tender clams and the succulent mussels had my wife sighing in pleasure.

The sign on the door also says "pizzeria," and Nappo's white pizza - made without tomato sauce - offers a tantalizing blend of fresh garlic, basil, oregano, tomatoes and mozzarella that's not to be missed. The 14-inch and 16-inch pies range from $8.50 to $18.95.

Desserts are sinfully delicious. A raspberry Napolean has layers of flaky crust with sweet whipped cream and liquors, and the double chocolate mousse is so intensely chocolate-y the servers warn you about it.

Nappo keeps the place open "until people leave - I'm not into that corporate thing." Tell him you've been to Naples and he'll sit down with you to reminisce. He's that kind of guy, and it's that kind of place.

The staff is professional, cheerful, hardworking and evidently valued. A cook, on his last night of employment before departing for the Navy, was given a warm farewell by Nappo and told, "There will always be a place for you at Giancarlo."

Cooks or customers - the same words happily apply.