Lombardi’s La Fiorentina Tuscan Grill Redux

It’s not exactly the way we make it back home, in Piedmont,” cautioned Carlo Allesina, the corporate executive chef for La Fiorentina Tuscan Grill (ne La Fiorentina Tuscan Steakhouse) and the rest of Alberto Lombardi‘s restaurants.

He was presenting a dish of spaghetti carbonara whose least traditional element–a glug of heavy cream–caught me by surprise.

“I want to serve the traditional preparation (spaghetti tossed with egg yolks, pancetta, Parmagiano and cracked black pepper, the sauce diluted by a few spoonfuls of pasta cooking water), but people don’t want that,” Allesina added. “They send it back and say it’s not right, it’s too dry, it needs more cream. So I add a little cream, and they love it.”

While the pasta course may not have been wholly true to its roots (few of Lombardi’s concepts really are–he’s a clever enough operator to know that customers prefer Americanized versions of global cuisine), it was alluring nonetheless.

Lombardi is repositioning La Fiorentina as a lower cost, more casual concept (the name has changed, and many items are a dollar or two lower than they were a few months ago). They’ve brought on Alessio Franceschetti, the former chef-owner of Alessio’s Il Ristorante, to run the front of the house. Franceschetti is a charmer; everything and everyone he touches feels more Italian. Service remains a strong suit at La Fiorentina.

To a revamped, slightly less pricey menu, Allesina and La Fiorentina chef  Ben Ackland have added a half dozen pastas, most of which are made in-house, some seasonal items (osso buco, roasted meats) and an autumnal stunner: a soup constructed with roasted porcinis, chestnuts and chicken stock, then ladled with truffle-infused cream.

Overall, I liked what I saw (I was an invited guest). The Old Country decor is inviting and comfortable, with its brick oven and open kitchen up front, dining tables covered in beige linen and walls textured to resemble a centuries old farmhouse.  (La Madeleine should take notes.) The menu is evolving in a good direction, too, with slightly lower prices despite a rise in food costs.

La Fiorentina Tuscan Grill, 4501 Cole Avenue, Dallas, 972-528-6170