Enzo’s La Piccola Cucina

An entryway decorated with family photos, good Italian-American food and an accommodating staff all contribute to this Lawrenceville restaurant’s welcoming, homey atmosphere.

By: Faith Bahadurian

   Enzo’s La Piccola Cucina is almost 20 years old and still going strong. Managed by Enzo and Rita Scozzari’s daughter, Anna, the very popular Lawrenceville restaurant is a local favorite.
   You enter through a narrow vestibule that feels like someone’s home, the walls lined with family photos from a culinary trip to Italy that included a visit with the Pope. A couple of steps lead down into a remarkably tiny storefront room that seats maybe 40 and holds a glass-case display of roasted vegetables for the take-out pizza for which Enzo’s also is known. The ceiling is outlined with garlands of greenery and tiny lights, and under the glass-topped tables are numerous business cards — a sign that Enzo’s also is a popular lunchtime destination for nearby office workers.
   This is the kind of place I wish was around the corner from my office or, better yet, home. The thin-crust pizza, with a choice of 23 toppings and six kinds of gourmet white pizza, could keep me going for weeks. But tonight we have our mind on full dinners and are impressed with the extensive menu of Italian-American classics. Twelve sauces can be matched with about nine pastas any way you please for $8.95 to $13.95. There are also baked pastas, veal, chicken and seafood dishes ($10.95 to $18.95), charcoal-grilled meats ($16.95 to $23.95), and a full-page list of the evening’s specials.
   We selected our appetizers and entrées from those specials and were presented with complimentary bruschetta, a harbinger of good things to come. Two toasted rounds of bread were swathed with a topping of white beans and tomato, the beans nicely rounding out the flavor of winter tomatoes. A small round of bread was also brought to our table on a cutting board with a serrated knife. This makes quite a mess, and the bread, while warm, is not particularly interesting. It’s a generous gesture, however, and I’m happy to see butter (albeit in little packets) instead of the ubiquitous olive oil for dipping. This is reassuring to me, as in my Italian grandmother’s house, oil was for cooking, not dipping.

TimeOFF photos/Frank Wojciechowski
A couple of steps lead down into a remarkably tiny storefront room that seats maybe 40. The ceiling is outlined with garlands of greenery and tiny lights, and under the glass-topped tables are numerous business cards — a sign that Enzo’s also is a popular lunchtime destination for nearby office workers.

   From the appetizers, grilled calamari ($10.95) was a hit, served over mixed red and white beans and lentils with balsamic vinaigrette. The smoky, charcoal-grilled taste of the squid is an excellent counterpart to the earthy beans, the squid with just a pleasant touch of chewiness. I saved some to take home, but we polished off my companion’s Portobello alla Florentine ($9.95), meaty roasted mushrooms topped with fresh spinach and meltingly luxurious Gorgonzola cheese.
   Entrées came with a choice of soup or house salad. We passed on the evening’s meatball soup, but opted for crumbled blue cheese topping ($1 each) on the salad, served family style in a generously sized glass bowl. Crisp greens were topped with nicely acidic vinaigrette and lots of blue cheese, which I found a bit sharp after savoring the mellow lushness of the Gorgonzola on my friend’s appetizer. But that’s OK, since we were by now clued in to the fact that portions at Enzo’s are not piccolo at all, and we would save some room.
   There are a dozen entrées on the page of specials. Torn between Italian-style roast duck ($23.95) and fresh (from an Amish butcher) rabbit cacciatore ($24.95), I chose the latter because it sounded so homey. Pieces of rabbit had been braised in a white-wine sauce with capers, onions and mushrooms until bone tender. Its herbaceous aroma and flavor were heavenly, and again the portion was more than I could finish.
   My friend also hesitated over the duck but in the end ordered a veal chop, asking to have it prepared simply with capers and lemon instead of the mushrooms, roasted peppers and cream sauce the menu offers at $24.95 (as ordered, $22.95). Her request was pleasantly accommodated, and she was quite pleased with the juicy chop, served slightly pink. I mentioned that the server hadn’t inquired how she wanted it done, and her contented response was, "There’s no need, whatever they do is always the way I like it." One taste of the tender meat in its light bath of lemony sauce and I could only concur.
   Entrées come with a serving of penne pasta with the house red sauce, which measured up nicely to the rest of the dinner — pasta properly al dente, bright red sauce fresh tasting, not too cooked down.
   Decaf coffee ($1.75) was fine, and charmingly accompanied by yet another complimentary plate, this time with tiny biscotti. We’d also ordered chocolate tartufo and peach-ginger mousse (both $6). Made off-premises, they were good but not outstanding, so I’ve earmarked the house-made Ricotta cheesecake, cannoli or tiramisu for my next visit — if I have room.
   It’s meals like this, at one of the state’s many homey family-run Italian restaurants, that make me thankful I’m a Jersey girl.
For directions to Enzo’s La Piccola Cucina, click here.