When you visit Nicola’s in Westerly, you’ll be treated to a history of two Italian families, beginning with the hostess’s question when you call for directions: “Do you know where Capizzano’s used to be?” The red brick building with its rounded front has been a familiar landmark to anyone entering the town on Route 1 since Frank Capizzano opened it as Cap’s Café in 1933.
In 1994, the Bellones (Nicola and Maria, with son Peter) began the very successful Maria’s Seaside Café in Misquamicut. When Peter decided to venture off on his own (with partner Kim Brophy) last year, locals were pleased that the Capizzano’s building would still be a restaurant, albeit a stripped-to-bare-bones renovated space. The entrance is now in the back of the building, with the large windows around the dining room letting in lots of light, and the sleek and elegant banquettes and booths that ring the outside wall lending an air of chic bistro to this many-sided eatery.
Bellone describes his menu as “Mediterranean with a twist” — and so it is. Asian influences creep in but are never overdone; pastas form an eight-item portion of the menu; Tex-Mex climbs onto the pub menu with quesadillas and nachos. Even kids get their due, with chicken tenders and “dunkin pasta” with marinara sauce or butter.
We met our west-of-the-border Connecticut friends Bruce and Pam for a recent Sunday supper, and we were, one and all, quite impressed. Settling into a white linened table near photographs of Italy — not just landscapes but close-ups of classical sculpture — and relaxing into cushioned chairs with slatted wooden backs, we felt the distinct aura of an upscale trattoria. Yet Nicola’s also welcomes families with small children, and as more of them arrived, we appreciated the acoustic ceiling tiles as much as the separateness of the pub in the other side of the building — where live bands are often featured on Thursday nights.
From the appetizers, I suggested mussels ($7.99), and Bruce the calamari ($7.99). Other choices were a tomato-and-fresh mozzarella salad; portobello with broccoli rabe; sausage, ricotta and mozzarella; tuna tartare with a jalapeno-lime marinade; fresh oysters or clams; and a beef spring roll with a peanut butter-hoisin dip. Both the mussels and the calamari were served in a wide and tilted bowl, the better to dip the wonderful focaccia into the mussel broth, with garlic, sausage, tomatoes, red onions, and white wine. We couldn’t stop eatin’ ’em. Ditto for the calamari, with its sun-dried tomato aioli gilding the lily of these perfectly dry-crispy squid rings.
Our main dishes were less easily decided upon, as each of us debated the merits of pasta over meat-and-veggies. The fresh pastas were tagliatelle, pappardelle, ravioli, and a special that night of fettuccine. Among the entrées, the organic pork chop beckoned Bill, as did the roasted striped bass with a coconut-carrot ginger sauce. But he settled on the pan-seared tuna crusted with black and white sesame seeds ($22.99), and he was very pleased with the rareness of the tuna, as well as the accompanying spring rolls, baby bok choy, seaweed salad, and hoisin glaze, all of which ratcheted up the plate’s flavor quotients.
