When in doubt, stick to the basics
Trattoria Ti AmoUl. Swietokrzyska 3Hours: 12 midday - 11 p.m.Telephone 620 7937Reservations and credit cards accepted
After a whirlwind driving tour through Italy at Christmas, I was again reminded why Italians are the food supremos of the world. After all, this is the nation that invented everything from hardy pasta and the humble pizza, to magical seafood dishes and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
But don't get me wrong it wasn't all A-1 gourmandise. In Venice for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the only things open were horrible tourist traps that served passable pasta, fluffy bread and carafes of watered-down house wine.
Instead, the best dining moments were out of the big cities, in suburban restaurants and trattorias. In this country, whole cities shut down at 1 p.m. for a few hours. Wander the empty streets, and you smell food cooking and hear the clatter of stacking plates and wineglasses.
Last week, I had dinner at a little Italian restaurant I was curious to try. The bungalow-proportioned Trattoria Ti Amo sits on the corner of ulica Swietokrzyska and ulica Emilii Plater. It's been churning out pizza and pasta in Warsaw for 10 years, but last year, thanks to the growing number of office towers in the area, it face-lifted its menu.
From the outside, Ti Amo looks rather inviting: Soft lighting, warm shades of brown and a healthy number of customers inside. But upon entering, I realized it was all a little more contrived; what I like to call the "faux trattoria experience." Just add terracotta tile, some rustic baskets of dried plants and a few Italianate tiles and well ... you could be in a restaurant in Disneyland.
The music was a little on the loud side, but I prefer that to a restaurant that is deathly quiet. It makes me want to talk at the top of my voice, just to overcompensate for all those whispered conversations going on around me.
Upon first glance, the menu looked good pasta, pizza, risotto and a small choice of secondi piatti (or main dishes), including veal, chicken and sole. There was also an additional list of suggested plates including a rabbit ragout and a seafood tagliatelle. It was all in Polish but the owner tells me an English menu is coming soon.
Our starters arrived quickly spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli) and prosciutto di Parma con melone (melon wrapped in prosciutto). They were simple choices but done well: the pasta had enough garlic to guarantee offensive breath for the next week and the chilli was actually hot, hot, hot! The prosciutto well, it's kind of hard to go wrong with melon and prosciutto. The only problem is if the melon is unripe, but thankfully the wedges of melon were sweet and juicy and complimented the wonderful saltiness of the Italian air-cured ham. Sadly it was garnished with some of those soap-flavored, bottled black olives.
Service was once again quick a little too quick and our mains arrived hot on the heels of our starters. I'd ordered pollo alla diavola (chicken in a tomato sauce) and David, the scaloppina alla pizzaiola (veal with tomatoes, oregano and mozzarella). Vegetables and salads did not come as part of the meal, so I ordered a green salad, and David some grilled vegetables.
I should mention here that the meals are served on tutti-frutti colored plates. My three chicken legs were swimming in a sea of tomato sauce on a lime-green plate, while David's scaloppina doused in the same sauce was on a bright yellow plate. He liked all the bright colors. I found it disconcerting a bit like eating off giant Lifesavers lollies. He also liked his scaloppina tender and topped with melted mozzarella while I found my chicken rather pale and boring. The only good thing was the rich tomato sauce ... but there was no bread to enjoy it with.
I tried ordering some, only to be told there was none on the menu! Along with those dodgy Venetian establishments, this must be the only Italian restaurant in the world without crusty bread! The waitress told me they had foccacia so I ordered some and what I got was a super thin circle of pizza dough, flavored with fresh rosemary. Crisp and light, it was very good.
Also, my salad had no dressing. I asked the waitress and she brought me olive oil and vinegar. As for the grilled vegetables zucchini, capsicum and eggplant they were grilled, and just kind of plonked on one of those screaming plates with no garnish or seasoning.
I half-heartedly ate my chicken while David relished his veal. To console my poor choice, I polished off a Macedonia, or fruit salad with Martini Rossi a refreshing combination and a nice finish to a meal that was a bit hit or miss.
Just as we were paying the bill, the couple dining next to us received their pizzas, which looked absolutely fabulous. Maybe Ti Amo should have stuck with its pizza and pasta menu. But even so, overall it's nice, sensible food in a "clean 'n cute" trattoria environment.
Dinner for two, not including drinks, came to zl. 168 ($41).
From the menu:
Spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino zl.24Prosciutto di Parma con melonezl.24Pollo alla diavolazl.32Scaloppina alla pizzaiolazl.36Insalata verdezl.21Verdure alla grigliazl.14Peperone (Pizza)zl.31Vegetariana (Pizza)zl.32Macedoniazl.13
