From a list of 10 pasta dishes offered either as an appetizer or entree, homemade lasagna ($3.90 and $7.50) - a generous portion of firm pasta layered with ricotta and slathered with tomato sauce enriched with ground beef and sausage - made a wonderful first course. Ziti and asparagus ($3.90 and $7.75) was slightly overcooked pasta with firm chunks of green asparagus in a well- made tomato sauce; sprinkled with parsley, it was a good dish that cried out for a few twists from a pepper mill.
Rich, home-cooked minestrone ($1.50) was oil-touched broth chock-full of baby lima beans, peas, fresh tomato, carrots, pasta, white beans, corn, onions, green beans and shreds of beef. Hot garlic bread ($1.25), redolent of garlic, was drenched with melted butter.
Dinner began with a complimentary dish of moderately spicy green chili peppers in oil, a real taste treat, and a wicker basket of crusty Italian bread with commercial butter tubs.
A salad of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, grated carrots and red cabbage and peeled cucumber rounds was notable for its crusty, homemade croutons - and the little chunk of ice hidden beneath the greens to keep them chilled.
Main dishes were equally delightful, particularly veal saltimbocca ($12.95), which was three delicate cutlets topped with prosciutto, fresh mushrooms and a slice of mozzarella and enrobed in a robust Madeira sauce. It came with a medley of carrots, peas, corn and green beans. Scallops Avanti ($10.25) offered tender deep-sea scallops and fresh mushrooms sauteed in brandy and light cream and served atop al dente cappellini, the delicate angel hair pasta.
