The CIA-trained chef here has a love for cooking that translates to nuanced flavors with heady overtones.
By: Kate and Tom O’Neill
La Casa Bianca |
The bland, government-issue architecture of a ’60s-era post office conceals the cheerful interior of the whimsically named La Casa Bianca, an Italian restaurant in (where else!) White House Station.
The main entrance is in the rear off a parking lot. It leads to a small bar and a warm welcome. In the bar, the European feeling is enhanced by a Venetian-themed oil painting, one of several in the restaurant. After dinner, chef/owner Paul Liscio told us that each year he hangs another picture, courtesy of an artist friend. The décor features a pleasant jumble of French café scenes, metal baskets, a large mirror, decorative olive oil bottles and two flags one American and one Italian.
La Casa Bianca offers a limited selection of wines from the Amwell Valley Vineyard by the bottle (starting at $17) or by the glass (from $4). The restaurant’s Web site promises a complimentary glass of wine to those who reserve by e-mail. Unfortunately, the restaurant acknowledged neither our Internet inquiry nor our phone reservation, so we did not benefit from this offer. Unfamiliar with the Amwell Valley vintages, we had packed in our own wines, a Petit Chablis and a robust Tuscan red, vino nobile di Montepulicano; both proved complementary to the imaginative cuisine. Our server, Steve, handled the wine service with friendly aplomb.
The menu offers an extensive range of antipasti, salads, vegetables, sides, pasta, specialties, veal, chicken and meat, supplemented by a recitation of a half-dozen specials. And if that choice is not wide enough, eight kinds of wood-fired pizza are also available. While we pondered the options, Steve brought us three bruschette piled dauntingly high with a hearty, vinegary tomato and garlic topping. When those quickly disappeared, he arrived with six slices of lightly toasted bread, spread with olive-oil, dappled with melted cheese and served with rich plum tomato sauce.
From a half-page listing of tempting salads, we chose three. Each was built on a base of mixed greens that included radicchio and baby spinach and topped with chopped walnuts. Insalata di Anatra ($12.95) was tossed with warm roasted duck, nectarines and tangy vinaigrette. Insalata Carpaccio ($12.95) offered ultra-thin slices of carpaccio under the greens that hid mild, diced goat cheese and blueberries, nicely marinated in the vinaigrette. The third, Insalata Cynthia ($11.95), was also garnished with goat cheese. It contained amazingly fresh raspberries, was dressed with a lighter vinaigrette and wreathed by a circle of Granny Smith apple slices. We thoroughly enjoyed each salad, while chatting with Steve (or "Stefano," as he later suggested) and playing "Name That Tune" to the Nat "King" Cole CD that provided background music.
Before even tasting our entrées we noted the chef’s eye for color. The Vitello de Paris ($23.95) had a cornucopia of vegetables (zucchini, yellow squash, potato, asparagus, chopped tomato and carrot purée) atop sweet onion orzo. The veal itself was sliced, or pounded, thin, perhaps a bit overcooked, but tender and flavorful. The Gnocchi Pio ($18.95) was even more elegant, with an Italian flag of green pesto, white melted mozzarella and red pomodoro sauce. Each element boasted a taste all its own, but stirred together they gained a deliciously nuanced flavor that enlivened the smooth potato dumplings. Gambaroni Cali ($28.95) were a culinary achievement, with moist butterflied shrimp stuffed with lump crab meat that had been blended with mascarpone and a pinch of nutmeg. Chef Liscio showed real flair in replacing wine with the lemon liqueur limoncello in the accompanying lemon caper sauce, adding exotic, almost heady overtones. The shrimp were accompanied by delicately wilted spinach that had spent only moments in the pan after soaking in water, as we later learned from the voluble Chef Liscio when we paid him well-deserved compliments.
Steve reported that the dessert choice was limited to two offerings, so we ordered one of each: the apple tarte ($9.95) and cannoli ($7.95) and also enjoyed a dark, well-made decaffeinated espresso. The tart was served in a small reflecting pool of sticky caramel, topped with thin sliced, crunchy apples. The cannoli featured a crispy shell that encased creamy ricotta with a hint of sugar and cinnamon, flecked with miniature chocolate chips. It was so appetizing that Tom came out of his self-professed gustatory retirement for the evening to finish it off after one small taste. We later learned from Chef Liscio that all his desserts are home made. He also mentioned that Steve had overlooked other desserts available that evening, including truffles and "the best cheesecake you ever tasted," or, in our case, never tasted.
Casa Bianca offers a long menu to explore, and we have barely scratched the surface. Mr. Liscio is proud of his classic training at the Culinary Institute of America. On the menu he recognizes other mentors, including his nonna, Josephine Liscio of Palermo. An ebullient host, he has no culinary secrets, just a love of cooking and eating well that he is eager to share.