Chef Geoff Tracy’s newest creation, an Italian named Lia’s Restaurant in Friendship Heights, has an ambitious menu, lightning-fast service and a great look — modern Tuscan with warm hues, tin ceiling and a wall of wines behind a glass case in the center of the dining room.
The hip bar, separated from the dining room by a fireplace, has flat-screen televisions and cool lighting.
Looks promising, and things do start out well. We are seated within seconds of arriving. A waiter is at our table in no time and we order from the extensive and Italian-dominated wine list.
The dinner menu looks great too, but here the evening starts going south. Looks deceive, as they say. We order Lia’s Caesar salad and the crispy calamari with a trio of sauces.
The romaine is brownish and wilted; the cheese is off; the croutons are few and far between. The dressing is OK. What does that leave us with? Something that shouldn’t be served at a restaurant with ambition.
Fortunately, the salad was accompanied by great Italian peasant bread with a deliciously crunchy crust and excellent olive oil. Our other appetizer also helped make up — a little — for the wilted mess of a salad. The crispy calamari were perfect, and the generous portion was served with three delicious sauces: an aioli, creamy lemon and marinara.
It turned out that the calamari was the non-dessert highlight. The fennel-dusted salmon entree was dry on top and raw in the middle; the accompanying cannellini bean cassoulet with crispy prosciutto and mushroom port reduction had a unique, nice flavor, but the texture was off. The beans were underdone.
The goat cheese ravioli, too, presented a nice flavor, albeit a bit salty. The texture was beyond al dente. The garnish of slightly sweet roasted pepper and salty black olives combined nicely with the distinct goat cheese flavor.
The presentation generally was appealing and the dinnerware attractive. The linen table cloths are covered with protective paper, however, and this paper keeps peeling off, getting caught up in sleeves and on hands.
Lia’s also offers more than a dozen pizzas and sandwiches. The hamburger that comes with sauteed mushroom and Gorgonzola cheese is quite good. The meat is nicely seasoned, the portion is generous and it was cooked to order, medium rare. The bun and french fries are solid, but nothing special.
The pizza, on the other hand, is not much to write home about. The crust is chewy and the flavor combinations adventurous, but not necessarily in a good way. For example, in the pepperoni, cherry tomato, arugula and mozzarella, the arugula is so potent it knocks out the other flavors. Even the pepperoni is reduced to mere texture.
The dessert menu, however, is a bright spot. It’s long and, the best part, Italian. There’s the Italian cookie plate, the Ligurian lemon cake and other favorites. We tried the ricotta cheese cake with pistachios and blood-orange syrup: a wonderful trio of flavors — slightly sweet, a little salty and a tad sour. The cheesecake was a melt-in-the-mouth delight with that slightly curdly consistency of ricotta, a welcome change from the ubiquitous American cream-cheese smoothness.
The gelato is also to die for. Several flavors are offered. The scoops are small, but so delicious. We tried the caramel swirl and the strawberry. Had we known the best would come last, we might have just reversed the courses or ordered all sweets.
Maybe it’s growing pains? We’d hope that is all, because Lia’s has a lot going for it and the locals are literally eating it up. The attractive dining room was trendily full of chatter — a little on the loud side — and dominated by older, well-to-dos from the neighborhood. The service was speedy, but not terribly informative or personal.
On the bright side, prices are moderate, the dessert menu is great and the wine selection fantastic. If the kitchen kinks are worked out, chances are this could become more than a local hangout. Doesn’t sea scallops with ratatouille, crispy prosciutto and basil pesto for under $20, sound great? Yes, but only if the ingredients are fresh and the preparation solid.
We’re hoping the Lia’s team is working to make such a caveat superfluous.
RESTAURANT: Lia’s Restaurant, 4435 Willard Ave. Chevy Chase; 240/223-5427; www.liasrestaurant.com
HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
PRICES: Starters $5.95 to $14.95 (lunch and dinner); main courses $9.95 to $14.95 (lunch) $9.95 to $25.95 (dinner); desserts $6.95 to $13.95
CREDIT CARDS: All major cards
METRO: Friendship Heights (Red Line)
PARKING: Valet parking and limited street parking
ACCESS: Wheelchair accessible
Please read our comment policy before commenting.