Trio of stars aims high with classy Italian grill

In December, three bright stars in Seattle's restaurant galaxy came together to introduce Troiani: a new high-end downtown Italian grill.

Restaurateur Paul Mackay is the force behind this and such mega-productions as El Gaucho and Waterfront Seafood Grill. Rich Troiani is former operations manager for Mackay and a front-of-the-house man known for his warmth, welcome and wine smarts. His paesano, chef Walter Pisano, spent 11 years at Tulio Ristorante, where, in the early years, the pair worked in collaboration to great success.

Now, this trio has come together and re-envisioned the former Fleming's steakhouse into a big-buck, big-bang bastion of meat.

At Troiani, wraparound windows provide a close-up view of Seattle skyscrapers and the lunch-bunch comes dressed for success. The attractive bar has yet to catch on with the après-work force, who would surely return for bites like the grilled calamari with a mint-kissed tomato and avocado salad ($10).

Distinctive colors add warmth to an expansive wood-accented room that, for all its handsome appointments, proves more appealing when candlelight prevails. Here I've enjoyed an exquisite dinner and another that shined, though not as brightly. I've also suffered lunchtime disappointment that left me wondering why, with stars of this caliber, the inconsistency?

From the moment I pulled up to the bold-blue awning one magical Friday night, dinner was everything it should have been, and more. One valet took my car while the other escorted me to the door. Friends awaited inside where we were led to a table within earshot of classical guitarist Andre Feriante. Within minutes, I had a well-mixed cocktail in hand, bread at my elbow and an opportunity to view Troiani at its bustling best.

Bless the friendly, professional servers whose wine suggestions left us in no need of a sommelier and whose facility with the menu helped lead us to an extravaganza of tableside service and top-notch fare.

Captains courageous converged tableside to sauté scampi-style prawns with garlic and shallots ($15), anointing them with white wine, lemon and capers. They returned with grilled escarole salad ($9), flamed tableside with grappa.

Your server may mention that the house specialty, Steak Troiani ($85 for two), is food enough for three when paired with the right mix of antipasti, insalata or "small-course" pastas. Among these is a spicy lobster risotto ($17), light in texture and powerfully perfumed with lobster stock.

The beef was expertly grilled and lived up to the hype. Accompanied by gorgeous whipped potatoes and fresh shiitakes, this tender center-cut New York steak gets its Italian accent from an infusion of fontina cheese and salame cotto, unveiled when the regal roast is carved tableside into six thick slabs. Sauced and showered with fresh rosemary, the meat cries out for a big red wine.

The 1999 Produttori del Barbaresco (the high-end of the glass pours at $16, but why count pennies when you've already hocked the family jewels?) answers the call. It would also do justice to the rack of lamb ($36), four luscious chops whose bones, like that of the sage-roasted veal chop ($29), should not be left unhoisted. Its accompaniments ran the gamut from ooohh (the veal's cheesy rice-ball, "suppli") to ugh (the lamb's overcharred artichoke).

Forget April in Paris. "Crispy Duck Breast" ($26) is autumn in Piedmont, its rosy breast and lush leg joint reclining on a dried-fruit compote. An added attraction, toothsome Italian corona beans, were obviously sourced from Jacopo's beanstalk.

Troiani's cheese course stars such bold-flavored Italians as red-wine-infused ubricone and truffle-scented suttocenre, presented on a rolling cart with chestnut honey, fig compote and toasted walnut bread ($10/three, $13/five, $16/seven).

Though the dessert list is short on options, it's long on delightful classics ($7 each), including an outstanding vanilla panna cotta, Marie's cannoli (slender tubes of chocolate stuffed with a fine-textured ricotta) and a trio of gelati outsourced from neighboring Gelatiamo.

With a meal of this caliber as a measure, I'm at a loss to explain why Troiani fails to shine at lunch. Valet parking is complimentary at night, but by day, one makes do with the building's expensive underground lot whose elevator, marked with a "Troiani" button, leads patrons directly to — a cluttered storage alcove. One afternoon, service proved overwhelming at best and atrocious at worst. Servers mixed up our drink orders. When we'd barely lifted a fork to our salad, the entrees arrived — Hello in the kitchen! — lukewarm.

One appetizer, spiedini with fresh mozzarella and white anchovies ($8), was a clunky version of the Italian bar snack, ill-suited to a midday repast.

Fine if not awe-inspiring was the chicken al mattone ($14), a buxom breast cooked under a brick, served over creamy polenta and sauced with a "Sicilian tomato relish."

Wild salmon over herbed farro ($17) was perfectly serviceable, but the farro, a barley-like grain, was far more satisfying than the fish.

The trofie pasta ($12), a slender hand-rolled Ligurian specialty, went wanting: for seasoning, excitement and consistency in the texture of its ground-veal sauce — soupy on one occasion, less so the next.

For a place that should cater to the business crowd, this kind of midday inconsistency is unpardonable.

With a pedigree like Troiani's, the restaurant could become a classic. But so far, these stars aren't in alignment.

Nancy Leson: 206-464-8838 or taste@seattletimes.com