The space had been given a warm renovation, with walls the color of tomato ragu and mustard, an antique chandelier, framed prints from Leonardo, Da Vinci's namesake, and exposed wood ceilings that gave it a rustic look. The seasoned South Philly BYO crowd finishing its dinner beside us, meanwhile, seemed to bask in the glow of a favorite new haunt, eagerly toasting the chef at meal's end with complimentary shots of his homemade cioccolatello.
That chef, co-owner Francesco Parmisciano, is aiming for a menu here more reminiscent of the authentic flavors of his native southern Italy than the high-volume Caesar salad-and-chicken- pasta fare from his long tenure at Lamberti's now-closed Pasta Blitz. And I found the most interesting of those flavors in particular on the list of specials. Delicate half-moon ravioli were stuffed with tender shreds of osso buco meat, spinach and ricotta. A trio of bruschetta toasts came topped with, among other things, an unusual mince of marinated mackerel.
There was a crispy cutlet of tender veal topped with sweet and tangy agrodolce sauce studded with raisins and pine nuts. A whole orata cooked beneath a salt crust (reminiscent of La Veranda, where Parmisciano also once worked), was plump and moist and sea-sweet, even if the server was too careless filleting it tableside, letting much of the salty crust remain.
It wasn't a perfect meal by a long shot (both the stuffed chicken and pork medallions in berry sauce were a tad overcooked). But I took my complimentary glass of the creamy chocolate liqueur, swallowed a fluffy forkful of homemade tiramisu, and raised the shot high. Da Vinci, it seemed, represented a happy new chapter for an address with a long tradition of good Italian cooking.
