Too many casual observers, I fear, might overlook this charming seven-month-old newcomer as just another meatball for the local gravy pot. But LoBianco is something a little different, a sophisticated taste of welcome variety for a restaurant scene that's at risk of being typecast as it grows.
Yes, there are some Italian flavors on this menu, like the rigatoni with crumbles of addictively sweet and spicy homemade fennel sausage, the tender veal scaloppine with saffron orzo, and the towering stack of chicken Milanese layered with smoked mozzarella and caponata that can abbondanza with Haddon Avenue's best.
But there is also still the same wide-ranging New American spirit, with French and some Asian influences, that established LoBianco as one of the Shore's most interesting chefs during his six years at two locations on Ventnor Avenue (both now closed).
This crisp bistro space, with cream-colored exposed brick walls and an open kitchen slipped into a side-street storefront off Haddon Avenue in the new Lumberyard complex, has more of a casual neighborhood feel than the black-leather-lounge look of their Margate digs.
But Stephanie still runs the dining room with a familial warmth. And their regulars will recognize much of LoBianco's tried-and-true menu repertoire, including the big short rib, a yakitori-glazed mop of superbly tender meat on a Flintstone-sized bone with grilled scallions and Yukon mashed potatoes. There's also a meaty fillet of pistachio-crusted halibut next to a crock of crab "cassole," a cryptic name for what is essentially luscious crab and artichoke dip with the addition of white beans.
