Asiagos separates itself from Americanstyle spaghetti house pretenders
February 29th, 2008, 8:56 pm Hobbies And Interests
Those of us with a slightly unhinged devotion to Italian food can usually recall the moment we pledged our allegiance to that country’s ethereal cuisine. Mine came on the beach at Positano, Italy, with the astonishing taste of fresh sardines marinated in lemon juice. A drizzle of local olive oil, and I’d seen the light. Jason Driver, owner and executive chef at Asiago’s in Downtown Boise, had his moment while working for Italian restaurants in California’s Napa Valley. “The food is just so vibrant and alive” he says. He’d moved to wine country from Boise for law school but soon found his enthusiasm veering toward more edible subjects. When Driver got back to Idaho, he couldn’t wait to share his newfound commitment to contemporary Italian food. His Italy-by-way-of-Napa vibe hit me as soon as I stepped into my favorite of Asiago’s three newly renovated rooms for lunch. The “Piazza di Conundrum” (an homage to Driver’s first restaurant at this location, Conundrum) is fronted by floor-to-ceiling windows, and on this recent, sun-struck Friday, it was bathed in a Tuscanesque glow. The rough brick and matte gold walls, the tiled floor, the retro-Italian posters, the table-side bottles of Pellegrino, all worked to warm what was outside a decidedly frigid February afternoon. Driver chose the name Asiago partly because the fresh version of that Italian cheese is smoother and rounder than a Romano, Parmesan, or a pecorino. His proclivity for burnished flavors echoed through my first course, the chicken, apple and mint cream soup ($4.95). The apple added a floral spark to an earthy potato puree laced with cream and irregular chunks of chicken. It tasted of late winter, and that’s what the best Italian food does; it mirrors the season.The Mediterraneo ($9.25), was another nice balance of flavors. I’d worried that the long list of ingredients-spinach fettuccine, tomato, artichoke hearts, capers, garlic, red chili, basil, olive tapenade and feta-would lead to the kind of inelegant overkill I associate with old-fashioned, American-style spaghetti houses. Thankfully, my pasta arrived as an understated tangle of house-made fettuccine flecked with slivered artichoke and crumbled feta. Only after a few twirls of the fork did I notice the rich but judiciously portioned mash of olive, garlic and caper. Delicious. (You can order many of Asiago’s pasta dishes with Italian sausage, marinated chicken, or shrimp, but I’d encourage a little Italian-inspired restraint and order your pasta straight up.)At dinner, the hostess seated my wife and I in “The Cask” room, a tunnel-like space designed to resemble a wine cellar. It felt a bit unadorned and bright next to the cozy clutter of the two other dining rooms, but soon the attentive and helpful wait staff focused our attention on tastier things.The Malfatti ($9.95) is an appetizer - or prima - described in the menu as a pan-roasted Tuscan gnocchi of spinach and five cheeses. These are not the traditional, thimble-like nubbins of potato pasta, but crisp-golden, macaroon-sized mounds. They give way to savory, almost cookie-dough interiors threaded with al dente strips of spinach. If I hadn’t ordered a main course, I might have considered another round of Malfatti and called it a good night. Still, I was eager to try Asiago’s main courses - or principales. In my opinion, it’s the roasted meats, grilled fishes, the braises, the stews, the caramelized fennels and radicchios that separate the spaghetti house pretenders from the real thing. Unfortunately, my wife’s Saggio Salsiccia ($13.95), a grilled sausage over green and white fettuccine, was swamped by a savory, yet overabundant tomato cream. My pork loin ($17.95) arrived too dry for its green peppercorn and currant sauce to salvage. These were failures of execution, not concept, and could have been avoided with a tad more diligence in the kitchen. Desserts brought the smiles back. The sour cream-rum cake ($6) was as rich and sweet as the mascarpone lime tart ($6) was light and tangy. That - and an espresso ($1.75) - fortified my faith in Asiago’s potential and the sense that its principles deserve another try. After all, we Italian food disciples are a devoted lot, and we want to believe.Guy Hand is a writer/producer whose monthly “Edible Idaho” show can be heard on NPR.
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