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Al Forno

At a time when fine dining meant blanquette de veau and sole meuniere, Al Forno introduced northern Italian fare to Rhode Island. It wasn’t long before restaurants from New York to California began replacing pats of butter with olive oil, and escargots with rustic pizzas. Al Forno is the gastronomic institution responsible for creating the Providence dining scene, and these days, the line for a table is as lengthy as it was two decades ago.

Guests are directed to one of two dining rooms: the whitewashed and bright lower area that flanks the spacious bar and bustling kitchen, or the slate-lined upstairs with its large stone fireplace and subtle lighting. Most people will grab the first open table, but the upstairs makes for a more leisurely meal.

A new chef in the kitchen — David Reynoso, who hails from Barbara Lynch’s The Butcher Shop in Boston — will have a tough time making his mark on a restaurant with such a strong identity, compliments of owners Johanne Killeen and George Germon. So far, the menu remains true to their time-tested formula.

Pizzas and pastas are pricey here, but the grilled pizzas that set off a wave of fire-cooked crusts around the country two decades ago still live up to the hype. The huge slabs of irregularly shaped, char-grilled dough support both traditional (San Marzano tomatoes) and innovative (spiced wedges of pumpkin) toppings.

Killeen and Germon have spent the last few years in Europe completing a pasta cookbook, and several dishes from the book are on the menu. The selection might seem a bit staid, but the pasta course truly is the restaurant’s shining star. As anyone who has traveled to Italy knows, it’s not the complexity of the food that wins people over, it’s the simplicity and freshness. Baked pastas, rich with tomatoes, cream and cheese satiate on a cold winter’s night. The house-made cavatelli with a brunoise of prosciutto and butternut squash served in a slightly acidic cream sauce is a perfect balance of taste, texture and color. It’s a great reminder that pasta — when prepared with a deft hand — can trump a sirloin any day.

Meats, on the other hand, aren’t executed with the same skill as the doughs at Al Forno. Most are wood-grilled or roasted, which creates flavorful exteriors but there’s a lack of depth in the sauces. A plump, boneless chicken breast has delightfully charred skin and juicy meat, but it comes with no sauce, save the small ramekin of fruit compote. Half a breast later and the excitement is gone. (On the flip side, accompanying slivers of fried shoestring potatoes become more enticing as the dish lingers.) Confit duck legs are underbraised, the meat still needing to be cut from the bone rather than falling away. The accompanying grilled radicchio and roasted grapes are a wonderfully rustic play on bitter and sweet, crying out for an equally playful Italian wine (and there are plenty to choose from). Once again, the reduction of Concord grape juice looks beautiful, but you don’t want to lick the plate.

Al Forno still has the best desserts in town (you need to preorder with dinner). Hand-churned vanilla ice cream with gargantuan chunks of dark chocolate is sandwiched between a thin chocolate brownie, and the grand cookie finale (at $18) is worth breaking open a kid’s piggy bank. Two dozen warm chipped, nut-filled, tuiled and fried (think doughnut) cookies could safely feed four, if you’re willing to share.

So where does that leave Providence’s most well-known restaurant? It may not be the height of innovation anymore, but it’s some of the best Italian food in Providence. My suggestion is to embrace your starchy desires as well as your sweet tooth and bask in the glory of what Al Forno does best.

Al Forno -
577 South Main Street, 273-9760, www.alforno.com
Years in Business: 27
Chef: David Reynoso
Cuisine: Northern Italian
Dinner for Two: $125
Get: Pastas, pizzas, salads and dessert.
don’t get: Meat dishes that require more than simple grilling.