Viola's is in tune with the seasons

By MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

• See the menu.

PROVIDENCE -- We've enjoyed many meals at Viola's on DePasquale Plaza since it opened in July, 2003, but mostly in the summer. That's when you can dine outdoors, Italian songs waft through the air from a troupe of musicians at the opposite end of the plaza, and water plays in the nearby fountain. It doesn't take much imagination to feel you've been transported to a piazza in Italy.

Now with the colder weather, the plaza looks barren, the customers are all dining inside, and Viola's seating capacity has shrunk by half.

That's why, on a recent cool Wednesday evening, we hadn't originally set out for a meal at Viola's. But when our original restaurant choice turned out to be jammed with a big, noisy party of about 50 young people -- and on a Wednesday! -- we had to come up with an alternative, and fast.

Viola's proved to be a lucky choice. For that very evening, Viola's had instituted its new autumn menu special -- dinner for two for $29.95 -- alongside its regular menu.

It's an extensive list of 10 entrees, plus a glass of house wine, soup or salad, and lots of wonderfully crusty Italian bread for dipping in the olive oil.

On our first visit, my companion ordered the Veal Marsala -- a tender and very big slice in a heady marsala wine sauce with wild mushrooms and fresh basil -- accompanied by robust smashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. I had the Seafood Supreme -- littlenecks, mussels, scallops and baby shrimp in a light and aromatic garlic and olive oil sauce served over linguine in a big bowl.

All the portions at Viola's are large, even the appetizers, and we wound up taking a good part of both the veal and the seafood home. But we've liked Viola's appetizers so much in the past that we also ordered the Pizza Margherita ($10) to start from the regular menu, even though one of us was also getting the soup and the other a salad.

The pizza was a big, crisp, grilled pie, its delicious basil and plum-tomato marinara sauce smothered under a blanket of chewy mozzarella. A few slices of the pizza came home, too.

Warm-looking inside

We enjoyed everything so much -- and some of it the next day reheated in the oven -- that we decided a review was in order for this very good deal. So we returned the very next Wednesday (the special is also available on Sundays and Tuesdays) to find that business had more than doubled from the two tables of diners we'd encountered the previous week. Perhaps word had gotten around. It should.

Viola's is a very warm-looking place inside, perfect for fall or winter dining, with tile floors and milk-chocolate-colored walls. It's long and narrow, with perhaps room for 50 or so diners. But it seems airy because of the many windows at the front and one side. Opposite the entrance, a long bar takes up two-thirds of the wall space.

We again ordered from the dinner-for-two menu, though different entrees than the previous week, and again started our meal with an appetizer from the regular menu.

We always rave about the Polenta and Portobello, topped with gorgonzola, wilted arugula and a jumbo grilled shrimp ($10). This time, however, we decided on that most familiar Rhode Island Italian restaurant staple, fried calamari, which Viola's serves three ways. We've tried them all at one time or other and can vouch for each and every one.

They're all pan-fried, so they're not as greasy nor as crunchy as the ones coming out of a deep fryer . . . and each dish is $10. Besides the traditional squid rings with hot pepper rings and marinara sauce on the side, another version is served with artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, red onions and sun-dried tomatoes. This is a personal favorite.

But this night we chose the squid sauteed with balsamic vinegar, onions and black olives -- messy looking, but more delicious and sweeter than we'd remembered. The sweetly acidic balsamic married nicely with the even sweeter and tender onions, balanced by the dusky flavor of the olives. Hurrah!

Executive chef James Massei said in a follow-up phone call that Viola's would offer a new menu in a couple of weeks to emphasize "more traditional Italian food from other regions of Italy than just the southern part." I must have sounded nervous over the phone because he quickly added that the three ways of serving calamari would remain. Whew!

Our dinners

For our dinners, my companion started with the veal soup, which had tender chunks of veal and lots of yellow squash and zucchini and carrots and lentils, too. Lighter than a stew, it would still make for a hearty choice on a cold night.

My salad was a generous plate of mixed field greens topped by black olives and slices of cucumber and roasted red peppers. The oil and balsamic vinegar I chose was just the right, light touch.

There are lots of entree choices on the dinner-for-two menu -- a 10-ounce sirloin, baked scrod, chicken or veal parmesan, chicken or veal francaise among them. But it didn't take long for my friend to select the Penne with Veal, which was actually crumbled veal sausage in a rich marinara sauce over penne. Despite the sausage, it wasn't greasy at all.

I had a hard time deciding between the Chicken Inferno -- sauteed chicken in a spicy marinara sauce topped with melted mozzarella and served over pasta -- or the Braised Pork Shank. Perhaps because the menu called the shank "elegant," a word that wouldn't have crossed my mind in describing a big hunk of bone-in pork, or more likely because a man at a nearby table had an elegant shank on his plate which the waitress said was so tender it was falling off the bone, I went with the pork.

A happy choice. The tender pork was falling off the bone -- well, at least with a little prodding -- and the tomato and vegetable ragout it had been braised in gave it a sweet and salty flavor that enhanced the flavor of the meat.

It was accompanied by a good-sized portion of smashed potatoes, with bits of the red skin peppered throughout for extra flavor, and crisp-tender steamed vegetables. A success all around.

Maybe because we'd ordered that full plate of calamari as an appetizer, portions of both entrees returned home with us. Of course, that now left a little room for dessert.

From among the yummy-looking choices on the big dessert tray, we chose a Chocolate Concord ($7). It was a tall slice of creamy chocolate mousse cake sprinkled with powdered sugar and with a fat dollop of whipped cream on the side, topped with drizzled chocolate sauce.

We did finish it, but only barely. It was a sweet end to a fine meal.

*****

Details, details .º.º.

Viola's, 58 DePasquale Plaza, Providence, (401) 861-5766.cq Smart casual. Reservations taken every night except Sat. Smoking at the bar. Wheelchair accessible. Highchairs available. Open 5 p.m. to close Tues.-Sat.; 1 to 9 p.m. Sun. V, MC, AM. On-street parking; valet parking Thu.-Sat.

Appetizers cost $9 to $10 $10. Entrees are $15 to $26. The $29.95 dinner for two, including two glasses of wine, is available 5 to 10 p.m. Sun.--Tues.-Wed.Sun., Tue and Wed. The wine list is $6 to $7.50 by the glass; $20 to $80 for a bottle.

*****

If you like Caffe Itri, Pane e Vino or Andino's, you'll like Viola's.

*****

BILL OF FARE

The $29.95 dinner for two might look something like this if you included one appetizer and a dessert:

Two entrees, two glasses of house wine, soup or salad . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29.95

Balsamic calamari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00

Chocolate Concord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7.00

Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3.79

Tip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60.74

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