Davio's

Great expectations go unfulfilled

by Johnette Rodriguez

In the Biltmore Hotel, Providence, 274-4810
Open for breakfast, Mon-Sat, 6:30 a.m.-11 a.m.
Lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Dinner 5-10 p.m.
Sun. breakfast, 7-11 a.m., brunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Bar open until 2 a.m. on weekends
Major credit cards
Sidewalk access

To survive in a city like Providence, where innovative chefs and Johnson and Wales graduates have set high standards and raised expectations for diners, a newcomer such as Davio's must pay close attention to delivering what it promises on the menu and to making its service consistently excellent.

What's more, although Davio's landed one of the most valuable downtown locations, right in the Biltmore, they should not assume a captive audience when there are so many options to choose from in Providence.

My own expectations for Davio's were primed by a delicious spread they'd prepared for an opening-night party I attended at Trinity Repertory Company. That night, their "award-winning penne" ($12.95 on the menu) was such a hit that no one could resist seconds and even thirds. Tossed with smoked chicken chunks, sun-dried tomatoes, and scallions in an alfredo-style sauce rich with toasted walnuts, the dish was at once elegant and homey.

Eager to try another pasta from the menu during our first visit in December, I chose the sweet potato ravioli with sage brown butter sauce, asparagus, and white truffle oil ($13.95). The fresh sage in melted butter was a nice complement to the sweet potato filling, but the white truffle oil could not have been more than a whisper. The asparagus also was a mere garnish on top of the dish, and, most disappointing, the ravioli themselves were undercooked.

Looking for solace from the other side of the table, I discovered my husband's plate was replete with asparagus. He commented that his roasted duck ($18.95) was moist but that the honey chipotle glaze was barely discernible (as was the case on a second visit to Davio's, when we ordered calamari with chipotle sauce). More surprising, he said that his spinach was too salty and that his potato/eggplant tart was lackluster -- just slices of potato layered with eggplant.

These culinary disappointments were underscored by a lack of professional service on that first visit. The staff neglected to clear the extra place settings at our booth, and they were very slow to remove used dishes and refill water glasses. Clearly, they were undertrained, as the main dining room was fairly empty that night and it was during the week.

On our return to Davio's a month later, we did get better treatment. Our young waiter was patient and attentive, despite a busy lunchtime crowd. Unfortunately, this improvement did not carry over to the staff in the kitchen.

I ordered the pan-seared, morel-crusted salmon on red lentil risotto with balsamic glaze ($12.50), and my husband had the gemelli pasta tossed with shrimp and tomatoes ($7.95) Like the cannellini with our calamari appetizer ($6.95), the red lentils and the arborio rice in the risotto were undercooked, making me wonder why no one in the kitchen was tasting their creations.

Indeed, my salmon was so strong-flavored, I suspected it had been over-seared. And the morsels forming a crust on the salmon were so blackened, I couldn't quite catch their quirky flavor. In my opinion, when you work with ingredients as delicate as morels and truffle oil, you want to make sure that a hint of their specialness comes through.

The same holds true for pasta tossed with shrimp, of course. Make sure the shrimp are as fresh as possible or they will spoil the dish, as they did for my husband. And if risotto is too tricky for a large-volume kitchen, don't put it on the menu. As for the beans, for heaven's sake, put them on the back burner and let 'em simmer a while.