One of our favorite places to dine is the North End of Boston, so we were mighty happy to discover Norabella in West Dennis, thanks to a recommendation from friends at our church. It was love at first sight — and bite.
Like the Italian restaurants in that Boston neighborhood, Norabella is small and intimate (with only eight tables), and offers some incredibly tasty Italian dishes presented in a gorgeous fashion.
At first the tiny size of the place intimidated our teenage daughter, but the ambience created by the dining room's bright yellow walls and eyelet curtains quickly made her comfortable. A fresh rosebud and an oil candle on every table added to the glow, and by the time we were through snacking on the light and crusty bread dipped in garlic herb olive oil, we all felt right at home.
The menu offers a nice selection of Italian specialties, all homemade and cooked to order. Since it was a cold night, we sampled two of the soups to start. Both came in wide-rimmed bowls. The stracciatella ($3.95) is an Italian chicken soup with spinach, ditalini pasta and scrambled eggs. The broth was incredibly flavorful and the eggs were moist. The soup of the day ($4.95) was a chicken and pancetta with beefy wild mushrooms, carrots and celery in a light tomato broth. It was excellent.
The friend who recommended Norabella said he always gets the lasagna ($16.95), because it's so good. It was indeed as wonderful as advertised. The individually made round lasagna was as pretty as a soufflé, stacked tall with many layers of homemade spinach pasta, cheese, and grilled red peppers and wild mushrooms. A circle of fresh-tasting pomodoro sauce completed the dish.
Our daughter ordered the pollo alla griglia ($16.95), a pasta dish with penne and grilled chicken in a white wine garlic herb sauce. The dish usually comes with spinach, porcini and shiitake mushrooms, but she opted to leave those out. Even as plain as she ordered it, the dish was superb and bursting with the flavors of garlic and rosemary. The chicken was tender and perfectly cooked. I'm sure it's even better with the mushrooms and spinach.
The guys both ordered penne Bolognese ($14.95), a large bowl of pasta smothered in a meat sauce made with ground beef, veal and pancetta that was obviously braised for hours. The dish came with a link of sweet Italian sausage and an enormous (and delicious) meatball. It was artfully topped with three small balls of fresh mozzarella and a sprig of fresh basil.
We all split the fritelle di cioccolato ($5.95) for dessert and were very happy we did. These chocolate hazelnut fritters are made with sweetened ricotta and candied orange zest and deep-fried. They come with a drizzle of chocolate sauce and taste just like cookies warm from the oven. They are not to be missed.
After our meal, chef-owner Jeff Wilson stopped by each table to introduce himself and make sure the food was wonderful. It was, and this kind of personal attention was evident in every dish we tried at Norabella. The results are spectacular.
Norabella
702 Main St., West Dennis
508-398-6672
<b><a href=http://www.norabella.com>www.norabella.com</a></b>
By LAURIE HIGGINS
