Galeria Italiana
177 Tremont Street, Boston
423-2092

A culinary trip to central Italy, without the plane fare
by Charlotte Bruce Harvey Abruzzi sits right smack in the center of Italy, about midway down the back of the calf. It's a mountainous, forbidding region, famous for its food: peppers, figs, chickpeas, cheeses, sausages, fish. The vibrant flavors of the region have earned its cooks a reputation as some of the finest in Italy. Opened in 1990 by two Abruzzese women, Galleria Italiana serves some of the most authentic Italian cooking in Boston. On the unlikely stretch of Tremont Street that lies opposite the Common, the restaurant suffers a bit from the lack of foot traffic, but don't let that discourage you. Chefs Marisa Iocco, from Orsogna, Italy, and Barbara Lynch (from Boston; she's cooked at Michela's, Olives, Rocco's, and Figs) are producing earthy Italian food that's as inspiring as it is simple.

The front of the restaurant is a wine bar, Miss Kitty's Salon, a great spot for a quick assortment of antipasti en route to a play or concert. But those with stronger hunger pangs and more time on their hands should head for the grotto-like back of the house.

A meal at Galleria Italiana starts with a small bowl of olives - fat green ones, tiny Niçoise, buttery Kalamatas - in fruity green olive oil. Also a bread basket that might include a salty peasant bread and a couple of mild sourdough rolls. Since service tends to be leisurely, ordering an antipasto or two and a bottle of wine is wise. Only beer and wine are served - all Italian, all easy drinking, and all inexpensive enough to match the food well.

The antipasti della casa ($8) was ideal to share, without a single ingredient that seemed ordinary. On a recent night, it featured two thin, crisp crostini, one slathered with creamy gorgonzola and then topped with pickled beets, another with salty, briny tuna spread and deep-fried capers. Pickled onions and hot little cherry-bomb peppers were served agrodolci - spicy and vinegary and fruity. Eggplant came two ways: in a smooth, balanced, sweet-sour caponata, and in luscious, satiny slices with crispy skin, layered with fresh thyme, garlic, and olive oil.

Crespele are Italy's interpretation of crêpes, and Galleria Italiana folded them around a fresh corn-and-potato filling, then topped them with a warm salad of grilled Silver Queen corn kernels and a rich white-truffle sauce ($8) - pure comfort food. Spiedini di calamari ($7.50) were tender and sweet brochettes of squid and roasted red onions, served in a copper pan filled with garden peas, plum tomatoes, and big, crisp crostini to soak up the sauce. Super-fresh tuna ($8.50) was seared rare and coated with a black-olive paste, then sliced thin and paired with two salads: frisée tossed with an olive vinaigrette, and a Ligurian-style potato salad of red potatoes in a creamy aioli-like dressing.

Dining room staff recommended the riccioli ($12.50), homemade macaroni made by wrapping squares of dough around a wooden spoon handle. Although the pasta was fresh and light and the roasted artichokes with it were meaty and full of flavor, the cream sauce bordered on bland. More satisfying were the cappellacci, traditionally ravioli stuffed with pumpkin. Galleria Italiana served a generous plateful of oversized tortellini, filled to bursting with a savory pumpkin purée, on a nutty sauce of browned butter and fresh sage.
Among the main courses, the brodetto Abruzzesi ($18.50) stood out: half a lobster, cherrystone clams, and mussels in a rich, spicy broth of tomatoes and seafood. In the center of the soup was a crispy deep-fried chickpea fritter.

Red snapper, too, juxtaposed the tastes and textures of a deep-fried batter with a spicy lobster broth. Only this time the fish (perfectly fried, delicate and sweet inside) came on a mound of puréed parsnips, in a pool of broth with shrimp. ($18).
A single veal shank ($17.50) was braised to a silky consistency in a heavy ragú, intensely flavored with slow-cooked tomatoes and caramelized carrots and onions and herbs. It came with a generous plate of potato gnocchi, which made for a very dense, if delicious meal. Roast lamb ($18) was incredibly flavorful, served well-done but still moist and tender. Slices of the lamb towered on a pile of amazingly crunchy roasted potatoes with wilted arugula.

Salads are perfection at Galleria Italiana. The insalata mista ($4.75) contained tender, lacy frisée and paper-thin shavings of fennel, tossed in a light balsamic vinaigrette. Heavier, almost a cheese course with salad, was the insalata quattro formaggi ($6) in which greens and thin slices of celery were tossed in a lemon vinaigrette and topped with four cheeses arranged like a pinwheel: dollops of custardy fresh ricotta and creamy gorgonzola, and wedges of salty pecorino and taleggio.

Galleria Italiana offers two desserts. A single pear poached in barolo wine ($6.25) came in spicy currant-like wine syrup with a scoop of buttery chocolate-hazelnut gelato and a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce - an inspired combination.

The Dolce Indulgio - sweet indulgence - ($6.25) had a man two tables down from us methodically scraping up the sauce on his plate. We thought he was odd until we tasted it: a flourless cake made with bittersweet chocolate and coffee, topped with panna cotta. Translated "cooked cream," it's ambrosial stuff at Galleria Italiana, the texture of sour cream, with a deep, barely sweet flavor. The dessert comes with two sauces, dark chocolate and a light caramel sauce.

Coffee, espresso and cappuccino were all excellent, strong and dark and served in thick white coffee bowls. A request for tea mystified a waiter and brought not-so-hot water and a Constant Comment bag. But then, tea's not the rage in the Abruzzi.

The atmosphere at Galleria Italiana is informal, jeans and ties in equal numbers. The walls and floor are tiled with stone, so the sound level can be high, but warm, sienna-toned photographs of Abruzzi and bright splashes of color make the room inviting. Service was slow, though friendly and helpful. Co-owner Rita D'Angelo McAlear, who manages the front of the house, makes guests feel like she's welcoming them into her home.

Parking is available in the lot behind the building, accessible from both Boylston and Tremont streets.