| rev:text
| - I'm having a tough time reviewing Fiamma - I think it aspires to be more than it actually is, and despite my inherent desire to love this place, something just seems off.
Atmosphere: Fiamma is located in a rather non-descript shopping center that is also home to Ru San's and Fran's Filling Station (along with Run for your Life and a wine store). The interior layout is kind of awkward, with many tables in a small footprint and not much privacy between parties. The back half of the restaurant is very crowded, with tables along one hallway wall and the bathroom door basically being a 5th chair at the back table. If one were to squint, the bathrooms might seem "quaint" or "authentic trattoria," but in reality, I think they probably deserve a good scrub and new coat of paint.
Food: I wanted to like this place so badly that I went back the following night after a less-than-enthusiastic Restaurant Week meal. Meal 1: I had the soft-shell crab appetizer and found it overly fishy and pokey (yes, pokey); the lamb shank was also disappointing, as I thought it was a bit fatty (although the side of gnocchi that came with it was downright delightful); that was followed up with the chocolate tart dessert that was more lava cake consistency than firm tart, but it was a pleasant surprise. Meal 2: I ordered the beef carpaccio as my appetizer, and was shocked by the amount of parmesan cheese that accompanied the plate - two of the largest slices of parm I've ever seen were atop my arugula and beef. For my entree, I ordered the black linquini with seafood and was in love with the tomato sauce kick and flavors. Having already experienced the wonder of the chocolate tart, I knew I didn't want anything else and ordered it for the second time in 24 hours (although I had tried the tiramisu and ricotta cheesecake from others at the table and those were good as well). So, night 1 was an unexpected letdown, but night 2 held up to my high expectations. The breadsticks and foccacia that started the meal were like a carbohyrate dream, topped with homemade pesto olive oil. And the one person who ordered wine received a (very) healthy-sized pour.
Service: If you consider Restaurant Week an opportunity to introduce your resturant to a new clientele, I would assume you would want to represent the experience in the most normal and typical way possible. I was shocked when we asked to see a regular menu (we'd just been given Restaurant Week menus) and were told the special menu was the only one they were doing. However, they did fulfill a special order (doing a full entree of gnocci instead of as a meat accompaniment) when our table's vegetarian balked at only 1 veggie entree out of 9 options. Finally, I would have expected our extra wine glasses to be removed once we declined wine, but they remained crowded on our table for a good 5+ minutes until we pushed them together and out of the way to the edge of the table (minor in the scheme of things, but an annoyance).
Price: Given that we were there during Restaurant Week, we were anchored to a $30 price point. Especially on night 2, I was very pleased with the quality and value that I received, and a quick look at prices on their website seem incredibly reasonable for a typical meal.
Most likely, I'd return to Fiamma, but I just can't shake the doubt in the back of my mind that it's not as great as it should be.
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