Larry Bly

Larry Bly runs an ad agency and does freelance writing in the Roanoke area.

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• Recipe of the day

I visited an old friend the other night for the first in a long time: Norberto's Restaurante.

Norberto recently repainted the front of the restaurant with exciting Italian colors and added an awning. I'm hoping he'll spend a little money on the inside. It's starting to need a facelift as well. There's something charming about this smallish space in Grandin Village, but the prints need updating a bit, the chandeliers dusted off and the ceiling painted.

But when it comes to the food ...old and familiar works to Norberto's advantage. He's pretty much stuck to one menu with a few modest updates, but the items are tried-and-true and unfailingly please.

My dining partner and I started out with two favorite appetizers: the funghi farciti (mushroom caps stuffed with crabmeat) and the clams casino, baked in the shell, stuffed with crabmeat. Both arrived piping hot and delicious. Other items that I've tried in the past are still there too: hot antipasto, New Zealand green mussels, garlic bread, escargot, and Mediterranean salad.

I broke myself of the habit of automatically ordering my favorite Norberto's entree, the chicken a la ginger, which is a chicken breast stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, wrapped in bacon and swimming in an orange sauce. Usually, the ginger is a big old fresh piece, just lying there on the plate exuding its lovely fragrance all over the sauce and meat. It's a light and delicious entree, but plenty filling.

But this time I went with the chicken cuscietti, a breast of chicken stuffed with mushrooms, mozzarella and proscuito ham, sautéed in butter with white wine and mushrooms in light garlic. A dinner entree this wonderful and complex for less than $15 is extraordinary. My friend had the shrimp Caesar, which is shrimp wrapped in veal, sautéed in butter with white wine sauce, served with pasta and veggies. The presentation of these dishes has changed little down through the years; and they're all sort of done in a simple yet elegant way.

Norberto's offers a ton of seafood items and combos: shrimp and chicken, shrimp with scallops, shrimp Romano (with tomato sauce and spinach), shrimp scampi, shrimp cacciatore, flounder Francese and lobster linguini, to name a few. The lobster's one of the two most expensive things on the menu and it's still just under $22!

You may choose a variety of veal and beef items: veal parmegiana, veal scaloppini, veal Francese, veal Pizzaiola, veal picatta, veal saltimboca, veal and shrimp Romano, steak Pizzaiola, and filet Norberto.

And then there are the announced evening specials, which for me just adds to the pain of decision-making. Every time I think I've narrowed it down to a dozen old favorites, they hit you with enticing daily specials.

Norberto's has a small but well-balanced wine list; a nice combination of Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Australian, and French wines. There are even three champagnes!

I never get to desserts, but I used to and the menu pretty much looks familiar here as well: cheese cakes, almond chocolate cake, carrot cake, flan, chocolate raspberry cake, chocolate mousse, tiramisu (my favorite) spumoni Italian ice cream, capuccino, espresso, and others.

With full bar service, you may also choose from a limited imported and domestic beer selection. Norberto's must limit its choices due to the constraints of space, but he's chosen fairly well, I'd say, and those who go there regularly seem to know what they'll get.

We felt that our service was a bit aggressive. While the wait-person certainly didn't let grass grow under our table, she was a bit pushy. I had just arrived and immediately headed for the little boy's room when she shouted across the room, "Just a minute, I need to get your drink order." I had given my drink order to my friend, so no, she didn't need to stop me for that. We felt just a bit rushed throughout the evening. Perhaps she had a late-evening hot date, I don't know. Service can be a little too intense. But the quality of the food was able to rise above the rest and we left happy to have once again experienced Norberto's familiar fare.

Norberto's has truly established itself as a great little neighborhood restaurant.

NORBERTO'S ITALIAN RESTORANTE
1908 Memorial Ave.
Roanoke, Va.
540-342-1611