Low-carb dieters, proceed with caution.
I am about to describe one of the best Italian restaurants I've had the pleasure of visiting. I'm talking rich pasta dripping with succulent sauce, fresh breads, cobbler crusted with sweet almond crumble — your basic low-carb nightmare.
On the other hand, keep reading. Biaggi's has stuff for Atkins disciples, too: original and intriguing salads, plenty of thoughtful entrees.
It's also got a great atmosphere, superlative service and is spotlessly clean. The manager walks around asking how everyone is doing. The wait staff achieves that elusive balance between friendly attentiveness and providing space, between prompt service and careful pacing of the meal.
But perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay Biaggi's is that the staff managed to deliver this good an experience on a weekend night when our family was, shall we say, not at our best.
Two of our kids fell asleep on the ride to Biaggi's. As a result, they were extremely grumpy and intermittently cried, dropped things and demanded to be taken on walks around the restaurant.
Didn't faze the folks at Biaggi's, who make a great effort to be family-friendly despite the restaurant's upscale environment. We got plenty of mints, bread, kid-size sodas with tight lids, coloring pages, crayons, you name it. I've eaten at fast-food restaurants with much less consideration for their youngest customers.
Walking into Biaggi's, my first impression was of light and space. The ceilings are high, and the dining room is a symphony of natural materials used elegantly: fieldstone walls, tall niches holding vases and greenery, dark wood. The huge windows lend a jazzy, urban air. Even the bathrooms are inviting and immaculate.
But the lovely environment and excellent service were eclipsed by Biaggi's menu. You'll find lasagna and Alfredo sauce here, of course, and I enjoyed my usual tiramisu for dessert.
But the real charm lies in things you won't find on every other Italian menu: chicken marinated in balsamic vinegar, mustard, rosemary, garlic and honey; pork chops topped with parmesan/gorgonzola butter; chocolate-chip banana cake with milk chocolate sauce.
I had the ziti al forno, moist shrimp and chicken in lobster-cream sauce with Italian cured ham and red onions. It's tossed with ziti pasta, sprinkled with Italian cheese and baked. Each rich bite brings a new blend of tastes. I couldn't finish my large portion, and it made a fine lunch the next day.
My husband had the lasagna tradizionale, a superior version of standard lasagna, while the kids enjoyed heaping plates of spiral noodles in cheese sauce.
Besides the tiramisu, which arrived in a puddle of espresso and dark-chocolate shavings, we had the peach cobbler, a ramekin full of firm but tender peaches and crunchy-almond crumble. I also got one fleeting bite of the torta cioccolata, Biaggi's dense rendition of chocolate cake, before it was Hoovered up by the rest of the family.
A few final morsels to savor: the complimentary basket of bread, with its oniony foccacia, crusty white bread and sweet-nutty whole grain; the overstuffed chairs that crouch invitingly here and there; the crab-and-lobster al forno appetizer, with fresh, hot chopped seafood and veggies scooped onto crisp herbed flat bread; the charming descent into evening lighting as the sun went down.
Appetizers $3.95-$7.95, soups and salads $3.95-$7.95, pizzas $6.50-$7.50, pastas $7.95-$18.95, entrees $10.95-$18.95, kids meals $1.95-$4.50, desserts $3.95-$5.75.
Rating: ****
Where: 194 S. 400 West (The Gateway)
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Payment: Credit cards
Reservations: Accepted for lunch and dinner
Phone: 596-7222
Web:biaggis.com
Stacey Kratz is a free-lance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret Morning News. E-mail: skratz@desnews.com