Italy Revisited

Story and photos by Benjamin Pomerance

First, a brief refresher course. A ristorante — the literal Italian translation of “restaurant” — refers only to formal establishments of higher-priced kind, the kind of place where six waiters serve your soup and you need a road map to figure out which piece of silverware to use first. Those looking to let their hair down after a long day at work at a more casual eatery often turn to the local osteria, an informal bistro-like eating place known for good wine and inexpensive, homemade food served in ample portions. And then there is the trattoria, the hybrid produced when the other two species of restaurants are crossed. Usually family run, the Italian trattoria features classic Italian specialties, high-quality but relaxed service, and a typically delighted clientele, many of whom have been dining and socializing at the same trattoria for generations. It is, without a doubt, the best of both worlds — friendly and moderately priced, but still first-rate in terms of food, service, and overall experience.

Such is the ambiance awaiting guests at Burlington’s Trattoria Delia, the popular establishment which captures the flavor of a dining style as Italian as opera and far more delicious than a Rossini aria. All the trattoria essentials are present here. Family owned? Check. The Delia family has owned this restaurant — and the hearts of many downtown Burlington chowhounds as well — since 1993. Regular clientele? Indeed. Never have I seen this restaurant without most or all of its tables lined with customers, some of them able to order their meal without even glancing at the menu — a clear indication of repeat visitors. Friendly but professional service? Absolutely. Delia’s waitstaff will stop and chat with you if you chose, but ask them about any item on the menu or the wine list, and prepare for a descriptive explanation that answers your question in full. Delicious selections of classic Italian fare? In a word, yes.

The menu at Trattoria Delia does not change often. With the exception of the nightly specials, which always include at least one fish of the day, I have noticed little or no alterations to the array of selections in the three or four years I have been dining here. Yet what Trattoria Delia has is good — very, very good. In keeping with the true trattoria spirit, the options at Delia are a vintage taste of Italy, the kind of authentic specialties one could imagine Puccini consuming before heading over to La Scala to watch the premiere of one of his operas. Even though the choices stay the same, the high level of quality remains constant, too. Which is why lovers of Italian food can’t resist the temptation to come back to Trattoria Delia again and again, causing the restaurant’s one cozy room to always be full and the waiting list for a table to always be long. No matter what you order at Trattoria Delia, you can be all but guaranteed that it will be a meal you remember for a long time to come.

My last visit to Trattoria Delia, a late-night excursion to Burlington with my parents, exemplified the type of dining experience one can expect at this place — the kind of evening you could rightfully expect from a local trattoria in Italy. It was after nine on a Monday night when we walked in, but the dining room was hopping, waves of lively chatter rising from practically every table and from the stools which line the Delia’s small but always popular bar area. By now, my parents and I have seen the menu enough times to earn the mark of regulars by ordering without looking, but we accept the list of options anyway to deliberate over who should have what. Every choice is written in Italian, followed by the English translation of the dish and a description of the main ingredients behind each item. And even though we practically know the menu by heart, the decision still is difficult, with only the delectable smells wafting through the kitchen door encouraging us to hurry up and place our order.

We finally decide to share two appetizers among the three of us, and the portions are more than substantial enough to make this possible. The antipasti misti, a platter of meats, cheeses, and vegetables, ranged from handmade salami and prosciutto (the Italian specialty ham) to house-made mozzarella cheese and imported provolone to grilled zucchini, eggplant, and perfectly cured olives. My personal favorite, though, was lumache alla sambuca — snails, but nothing like the escargots one commonly finds in a French bistro. Instead of being served in a crock with the classic garlic butter sauce, these snails were accompanied by a wonderful concoction of herb butter and olive oil that had been flamed with sambuca wine. Served over wood-grilled country bread — which served as the perfect utensil to sop up as much as possible of this sensational sauce — the snails themselves were tender and flavorful. Yet it was the sauce that really highlighted this appetizer for me, almost sweet but with enough liveliness and flavor to keep it from being overly saccharine. Anyone who has enjoyed snails at other establishments in the past certainly should consider ordering this dish on your visit to Trattoria Delia.

After a suitable pause, during which we enjoyed a basket of delicious hard-crusted homemade bread, our main meals arrived. Any thoughts of leaving hungry vanished when we saw these plates. Apparently, there’s one last rule about dining at a trattoria: Bring your appetite. One taste of these meals, however, and we knew that we could find a way to finish them. My mother’s veal saltimbocca was a superb presentation of this Italian favorite. Layered with prosciutto and fresh sage before being lightly dusted with flour, sautéed, and then finished with a white wine butter sauce, a great variety of flavors surrounded the veal itself. Yet the taste of the remarkably tender veal still shone through, enhanced by the garnishes but not overpowered by them at all.

My father’s main dish, the largest of our three, featured anther Italian favorite: osso bucco, veal shank braised with white wine, tomatoes, and herbs. Typically, this dish is served with a hearty portion of saffron risotto, but my father asked for it to be served with the trattoria’s homemade spaghetti tonight, a request that was accommodated without any further discussion. The portion of meat in this dish was enough to feed all the gondoliers in Venice, but the fall-off-the-bone delicacy of the veal made eating this ample serving far less daunting. My father loves osso bucco, and he often remarks that Trattoria Delia’s arrangement of this classic is perhaps the best he’s ever had.

I was inclined to order the agneiloalla Scottadito, the wood-grilled rack of lamb chops served with a mint pesto sauce, but changed my mind when I heard our waitress’s recommendation for the evening. “Try the beef,” she advised me. “We’ve been told it’s the best beef in town. It’s what the staff orders when we eat here.” So I trusted her recommendation and went with the beef…and was glad I did. Served in a Barbaro wine sauce and perfumed with white truffle oil, this filet mignon certainly proved a worthy contender to the title of “best beef in town.” Cooked medium rare, just the way I had ordered it, the meat was so tender that I could practically cut it with my fork. After enjoying this deceptively large meal, I now can see why staff members chose this when they come to Trattoria Delia as a customer — although I would be hard-pressed to rank it higher than the other first-rate dishes on our table that evening.

Though full, we decided we still had room for one dessert. Here, the task of making a selection again proved troublesome — did we want to share the chocolate torte or the espresso gelato, one of three daily flavors of Italian ice cream offered by Trattoria Delia. This time, our waitress came to our aid, offering the option of the chocolate torte accompanied by a scoop of the espresso gelato, an offer we gladly accepted. The torte was wonderful, the taste of good dark chocolate pure and unadulterated by other outside flavors. And the scoop of espresso gelato proved to be the perfect thing to round off the meal, refreshing and alive with flavor. I always enjoy good ice cream, but no ice cream in the world seems to have the vibrant taste of Italian gelato, and this house-made rendition of this favorite desert proved no exception to this scrumptious rule.

We left Trattoria Delia well after eleven, the restaurant at last emptying out after another busy evening. Once again, we had returned to an old friend, and found it at its consistently high standards in taste, care, and overall experience. Many people fly across the Atlantic hoping to find that traveler’s treasure, that popular spot in a small town where the food is delectable, the service is friendly, and the local color is alive and well. Yet inhabitants of Burlington or visitors to this small city can spare themselves the expense and experimentation of a trans-Atlantic search for the perfect trattoria. They can find it right in their own town, embodied in the food and spirit of Trattoria Delia, the ideal way to savor the flavors of Italy right in your own backyard.

Have you ever eaten at Trattoria Delia?