Journal photo / Sandor Bodo
JUICY TOMATOES shingled with slices of creamy mozzarella, large sprigs of fresh basil and a Balsamic vinaigrette.

The real thing: Good, old Italian-American classics

By MERIDITH FORD
Journal Restaurant Critic

• See the menu.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- I needed a dose of good old Italian-American cooking. Bad. I wanted red sauce. I wanted melted, bubbling cheese. I wanted to smell the garlic from the parking lot.

I wanted something to warm my soul as much as it satisfied my appetite.

This time when the urge struck, I checked out the changes at Pinelli's Cucina & Twist -- known previously as Quattro.

Like another Pinelli-Marra restaurant, Pinelli's North End Cafe, Cucina & Twist serves homey Italian favorites, such as eggplant Parmigiano and chicken Marsala, with classic trattoria favorites such as wild mushroom bruschetta and insalata Caprese thrown on the menu for good measure.

It's pleasant and comfortable, with a large dining area (called Cucina) to the left of the entrance and a casual lounge to the right (called Twist).

There's a newly configured granite bar, a new foyer and new decor, from the chairs to the window treatments. Each restaurant has its own menu, with Twist offering bistro sandwiches, wraps and hefty entrees such as baby back ribs and prosciutto-and-provolone jumbo ravioli.

The bubbling cheese

Cucina is where to find the bubbling cheese.

It's also where I found, amid typical offerings of fried mozzarella and stuffed artichoke hearts, a twist on fried calamari. Yes, Cucina offers it "Federal Hill" style with hot pepper rings, but also deep fried with scallions, rustic roasted red peppers, lots of garlic and a tawny, slightly salty, soy-laced sauce. The crunchy rings soak up the sauce until they are left slightly chewy, slightly crispy and when mixed with the peppers -- well, they were gone before I knew it.

This is good food -- nothing fussy or fiddled-with -- just plain, old-fashioned, Italian-American classics.

There was a large family -- 12 or so -- to one side of our table, a couple with a small baby to another. In spite of the modern touches in the dining room -- a lush, colorfully striped banquette, glossy-black, high-back chairs and low lighting -- the atmosphere in the dining room gives the impression that everyone knows everyone else and that someone who loves you is cooking in the kitchen.

That someone is James Gallagher. Gallagher, originally from Clark Summit, Pa., has been in Rhode Island for the past 10 years. He started cooking for the Pinelli-Marra restaurant group five years ago, having worked as a sous chef at Pinelli's North End Cafe and at the Grille on Main.

The menus are designed by executive chef Dave Thomas, who has been with this local six-restaurant chain for nine years. Thomas oversees all the kitchens in the Pinelli-Marra group, which has plans to expand in the next year -- a Twist is planned for the East Side of Providence and another across from Warwick Mall in Warwick. Pinelli's Cucina in North Smithfield, incidently, shares the same menu as that of Cucina in South Kingstown.

Classic bruschetta

Getting back to starters, a bruschetta -- served in classic Umbrian style with heart-warming cannelini beans that tasted as if they had been cooking slowly all day -- was dressed up with a plump, mildly spicy sausage and melted mozzarella cheese, over thick slices of toasted peasant bread. More of the bread was needed to sop up every last drop of the pot's juice from the beans.

Tomatoes are a gamble at this time of year in New England. Since they comprise the soul of an insalata Caprese, I left it to our amiable waitress to decide for me once she checked with the kitchen. The plan was to split a Caesar salad if the tomatoes didn't pass muster.

Service seemed so relaxed that she didn't mind doing this, going the extra mile to bring me what I wanted most.

It was a pleasant surprise when a large, shallow bowl arrived, brimming with fat, juicy slices of tomatoes that were shingled with thick slices of snow-colored, creamy, fresh mozzarella. Large sprigs of fresh basil gave a hint of licorice, and a Balsamic vinaigrette -- tawny and caramel-flavored -- was a perfectly tangy contrast.

For an entree, I got what I came for: a big-as-life cutlet of veal, tender and breaded, draped with slices of prosciutto and blanketed in bubbling (yes!) mozzarella. Drenched in a smooth, shiny mushroom Marsala sauce, this dish hit the proverbial spot. Bull's-eye. With it came a side of pasta with fresh, tomato-y (yes!) house gravy. So far, I'm two for three.

As for wafting garlic, there was plenty of that, too, especially in a dish of capellini aglio olio. With sauteed garlic, olive oil, sliced black olives and grana cheeses tossed into a mound of angel hair pasta -- this classic peasant's dish was missing only the anchovies, which I love. Now, I'm three for three.

Just in case there was any little part of my soul that still needed comforting, for dessert I indulged in ricotta pie (yes!). Sweet. Sharp. Creamy. Rough. Just a hint of lemon. Yum.

Federico Fellini once remarked that life is a combination of magic and pasta. At Pinelli's Cucina, I got a little of both.

Pinelli's Cucina & Twist, 2095 Kingstown Road (Route 108), South Kingstown, 789-5300. Casual. Reservations accepted during the week (on Fri-Sat only for parties of six or more. Wheelchair accessible. Cucina is open Sun-Thu from 4 to 9 p.m.; Twist from 4 to 10 p.m. Fri-Sat 4 to 10 p.m. and 4 to 11 p.m. respectively. Smoking section inside Twist and at the bar. Ample parking. V, MC, AM, DIS. Highchairs and booster seats.

Appetizers, including soups and salads, are $3.95 to $8.95. Bruschetta dishes are $6.95 to $7.95. Pasta dishes are $6.95 to $12.95. Other entrees, including steaks, veal, chicken and fish and pork chops are $10.95 to $16.95. Desserts are $5.

The wine list is limited, with bottles from $18 to $65.