Isabella Ristorante: A Culinary Step Up

----------------- RESTAURANT REVIEW -----------------

XX 1/2 Isabella Ristorante, 1909 Third Ave. ($$ 1/2) Italian. Lunch ($6 to $12) 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner ($7 to $19) 5 to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; until 11:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Closed Sunday. Lounge, full bar. Major credit cards. Smoking: lounge only. Reservations: 441-8281.

It took seven years, but with Isabella Ristorante, Gino Borriello has finally made it to the high-rent, high-stakes restaurant whirl of downtown Seattle. Expect him to stay.

Borriello, a native of the island of Ischia (off the Amalfi coast, near Naples), teamed up with chef Peter Levine a couple of months ago to open a classy and colorful (mandarin red, mustard yellow and cobalt blue) dining spot whose prospects look as bright as its interior.

Levine has been in the area for a couple of years, brought here by Carmine Smeraldo to open the since-sold Trattoria Carmine in Madison Park. He's a well-trained (California Culinary Institute), well-traveled young professional with credits stretching from the Bay Area to Nantucket, including a stint under Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate.

Before coming to the Northwest in 1988, Borriello trained in Venice (Italy, not the beach), Monte Carlo and London. He worked at several local Italian places (Settebello, Salute and Stresa) before he and his wife, Tama, opened their first restaurant, Ciao Italia, in Edmonds in 1991. His second, Ciao Bella near University Village, arrived two years later. Both developed enthusiastic followings.

The Isabella is a step up from both in terms of sophistication, menu complexity and culinary finesse.

"I wanted a restaurant I could be proud of," he said, noting that it was named for one of his daughters. "And I wanted a departure from marinara sauce and too much garlic. I wanted to serve what Italians in Italy are eating today."

The result is a menu that seems traditionally Italian (salads, pizzas, pastas, etc.) but with lighter touches and regional accents, like a splendid Insalata della Citta ($5.95 at lunch; $6.95 evenings), with organic greens, watercress, endive, arugula, radicchio, baked goat cheese and bruschetta.

The pizzas, baked in an imported, wood-burning Valoriana oven (there are only three in the U.S.; the other two are in New York), are not the usual heaps of too much cheese, too much pepperoni and too little imagination. Instead, expect creations like Pizza con Pollo, Cipolle Rosse e Funghi ($8.50 for a 10-inch pie), with chopped chicken sausage, sliced red onion and wild mushrooms. One quibble: two of us thought the dough surprisingly salty. Or try the Pizza del Bracciane (also $8.50), with red and green peppers, mushrooms, goat cheese, fresh Roma tomatoes, prosciutto and fresh herbs.

Different variations of risotti are concocted daily, including one stunning vegetarian presentation.

Calamari in Umido Santo ($7.25) is a piquant starter. Rings of calamari are soaked in buttermilk for 24 hours, then pressed into herbed bread crumbs, seasoned with garlic and lemon zest, then sauteed in olive oil with lemon juice and red pepper flakes. It's served in a pool of brilliant red tomato sauce flecked with chopped olives, with a basket of Grand Central Bakery's rustic Italian bread alongside.

More impressive is the Panzanella Mariella salad ($5.95; it's named for Borriello's other daughter), a variation on the classic Tuscan bread salad. Garlic-herbed croutons are tossed with diced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, white cannellini beans, red onion, capers, mint, seasonings and minced lemon peel. It's molded and served as a glistening cylinder over baby lettuces and a reduced red wine syrup.

The house Caesar Salad ($5.95) departs from the ordinary with crisps of melted Parmesan, raclette-style, over tender whole leaves of inner Romaine. A little less dressing would have been welcome.

The pastas are outstanding. The Ravioli di Pollo e Melanzane ($8.50), with a mix of roasted chicken and eggplant folded into ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, are served in a light broth of chicken stock dotted with sun-dried tomatoes and chopped Italian parsley. A daily special of linguine with scallops and mussels, with a subtle touch of saffron and cream (around $10), was simply ambrosial.

The Rapsodia di Tortelloni Pescatore ($8.95 at lunch) was indeed a seafood rhapsody. "Hats" of tri-colored pasta are stuffed with shrimp, scallops and crab and served in a rose red aurore (lobster) sauce.

Desserts made in-house ($4 to $5) are splendid, with the exception of a quite thin Tapioca Brulee. Try either the Tiramisu or the Il Finale di Cioccolato and contemplate Dante until the guilt subsides.

(Copyright, 1995, John Hinterberger. All rights reserved.)

John Hinterberger, who writes the weekly restaurant review in Tempo and a Sunday food column in Pacific, visits restaurants anonymously and unannounced. He pays in full for all food, wines and services. Interviews of the restaurants' management and staff are done only after meals and services have been appraised. He does not accept invitations to evaluate restaurants.