By Marilyn Otterson, NH.com
Published: February 19, 2004

LUCIA’S TAVOLA

The Commodore and I were riding home from Massachusetts one day recently and he spotted a sign that read “Lucia’s Tavola” in a small strip of stores on a slight rise beside route 13. “Look,” he said, “there’s an Italian restaurant I never saw before.”

I made a mental note of the place and then forgot about it until a friend mentioned that she’d seen the place and had stopped in to visit although it wasn’t time for a meal. She said it seemed like a good place to try, so one day the Commodore and I took a trip to Brookline to see what we could find.

You could easily miss Lucia’s Tavola, set as it is up from the road in a small strip of other businesses, but finding it is worth the effort. This small ristorante is owned and operated by Lucia (Medici-Traietti) Wirzburger whose family hails from Rome, and she uses family recipes in many of her lunch and dinner offerings. Just reading the pasta sauces on the dinner menu had us breathing heavily. In addition to several familiar sauces such as Bolognese, carbonara, marinara, and clam, there’s gorgonzola (gorgonzola, cream and Parmesan cheese), salsa rosa (tomato sauce with cream, crushed red pepper and cheese), and alla Romana (a simple sauce of butter, Parmesan and Romano cheeses).

Lucia’s Tavola is quite small with seating for probably only about 2 dozen. The walls are painted in a rich, terracotta faux finish and are decorated with opera prints and a few family photos. Tables are painted in glossy black crackle paint over bright blue and the wood chairs, charmingly mismatched and sturdy, are also painted black to match the tables. Tables are set with cloth napkins wrapped with a bit of artificial ivy, and attractive and substantial flatware. Lucia goes the extra mile by serving water in goblets, placing attractive pitchers of water on the table for the thirsty, and providing coffee cream in small pitchers rather than plastic containers.

The lunch menu is filled with salads (garden salad $1.95, individual size), soup of the day ($2.25-$3.50), panini (sandwiches on fresh-baked Italian bread) such as meatballs, sausages, grilled chicken Caesar, from $6.95 served with chips; and several pasta dishes, served with a cup of soup.

Spaghetti alla carbonara (creamy egg sauce with pancetta bacon, cheese and cracked, black pepper), $7.50, sounded delicious, as did pasta Piemontese (salami, proscuitto, and sausage simmered in red wine and cream), $8.50. Lasagna (fresh pasta layered with marinara and besciamella sauces with tiny meatballs, mozzarella and Romano cheeses)is on the menu at $8.95, and parmigiana selections that range from $6.50 for eggplant to $8.95 for veal are also offered along with traditional spaghetti and meatballs, $6.95.

The Commodore opted for the familiar and ordered chicken parmigiana, $7 .50. I chose the “Opera Box Specialty,” called “Figaro! Figaro! Figaro! with chicken, $7.50 (with sea scallops, $8.95).

Our pleasant server brought us a napkin-lined basket of fresh and delicious (torn, not cut) pieces of Italian bread with oil for dipping, and served our steaming, fresh coffee to enjoy while we waited for our meals. Off to one side of the room we could see into the gleaming, stainless steel kitchen where lunches were being prepared.

The soup of the day was pasta e fagioli and I was expecting the common concoction with white beans, pasta and vegetables, onion and garlic that, in these parts, usually seems to have tomatoes as a main ingredient. Lucia’s version, served in pretty cups set on pale green, glass plates, was a mildly peppery ham broth with bits of ham, white beans, and ditalini pasta in the warming concoction. This real, homey soup that we both enjoyed.

The Commodore’s chicken parmigiana, served over a choice of pasta, was an enjoyable, traditional dish. My Figaro! featured delicate, angel hair pasta covered in a light and piquant lemony butter sauce with caramelized rings of onion and grilled chicken cutlets, tender and delicious. This dish was unusual and uniquely flavorful. Our server offered parmesan cheese, grated from an imported wedge on a Microplane grater at the table, and this, too, was a homey touch.

Unfortunately, we had no room for any of the desserts such as biscotti, espresso cheesecake, zuppa inglese, crostata (black cherry tarte with lemon cream) or fruit and cheese platter. The children’s menu is priced from $1.75 for meatballs to $4.50 for chicken strips, grilled or breaded and served with pasta. Lucia also offers some dishes “a tavola,” an assortment of appetizers or desserts served at the table with tastes for three or four diners.

We enjoyed our lunch at Lucia’s Tavola and I think others who make a trip to this authentically Italian restaurant will have a good meal and a pleasant time also.