news-record.com

Riva's interior reflects the look of a Tuscan home. Faux stucco walls hold framed prints, watercolors, and oils, for sale by the Marshall Art Gallery (301 Pisgah Church Road, Greensboro, 545-8268). White-over-red-checked tablecloths cover tables. The restaurant is small, with two dining rooms, seating about 50. Dining here feels like dinner with a family member who really likes to cook and is especially good at it.

Unlike a lot of restaurants in this price range, where "cheap" characterizes quality as well as flavor, personnel at Riva's have obviously devoted time to tasting and selecting wines of both quality and value. Few come from the most popular and easily recognized producers. Instead of trying to find something you already know, pay special attention to the ones that are recommended on the list by restaurant personnel. I found that I could trust servers' judgment.

Crusty Italian sliced bread with very good herbed olive oil arrives promptly after seating.

My wife and I started one meal with Melanzana al Parmesano ($6) - slices of eggplant coated in a light, crisp breading, then layered with fresh mozzarella cheese between, ladled with a richly-flavored pomodoro sauce. The eggplant had been cooked just-right tender. (This is also available as an entrée for $12.) Crespelle ($8) consists of two freshly cooked, soft crepes, filled with spinach, prosciutto, and ladled with béchamel sauce, which imparted an alluring milky flavor and texture. Gamberoni Panino ($6) - flatbread, grilled crisp - gets a lot of flavor from the crust and the cheese, followed by distant shrimp flavor and a good aioli.

The kitchen is accommodating. My mother-in-law cannot eat salads, so the staff prepared a serving of Crab Soup, normally available only at lunch, and included it at the entrée price (which includes salad). Abundant lumps of fresh crabmeat occupied a creamy broth. The house salad consists of mixed leaf lettuces, cucumber and tomato. Dressings tasted homemade. The house vinaigrette is sweet. My wife and I rated the ranch, with just a hint of garlic, among the best we've had. The gorgonzola (50 cents extra) is good, too - rather thick and mayonnaisey.

Pasta entrees provide especially good value, because they are based on quality ingredients, comparable to high-priced restaurants. In Furmano's Spaghetti and Meatballs ($9), a good beef flavor emerged from the meatballs, undergirded by herbs, in a fully flavored tomato sauce. (Furmano is the maiden name of the chef/owner.)

Spinach and Feta Chicken ($12) used fresh chicken breast, feta cheese and fresh spinach in a bechamel sauce over bowtie pasta. Lasagne Bolognese ($12) layers ricotta cheese and pasta covered with a meaty Bolognese sauce that incorporates Giacomo's sausage, in a light, more liquid than usual preparation accented with sage, producing a highly enjoyable flavor.

Inner Harbor Shrimp ($18) included six large shrimp, fresh tasting, cooked in a bath flavored with Old Bay, but too salty for me to eat as served. A replacement with no salt provided good shrimp flavor with Old Bay undertones. I did not think this matched particularly well with basil-inflected pesto on the pasta.

Peppers and Sausage ($12) consisted of sauteed slices of Giacomo's Italian link sausage along with red onions and green peppers. This turned out to be one of my favorites. Pork Tenderloin ($15) presented four lean tenderloin slices. A good tomato flavor emerged from the pomodoro sauce. Sauteed eggplant and mushrooms were the item-specific vegetables.

Tuscan Steak ($19) featured a pan-seared Ribeye, leaner and thinner than what I would expect among higher-end restaurants, but juicy and certainly commensurate with the price, marinated in herbed olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This comes with potatoes.

We tried two desserts. Tortino di Mele ($7) folds firm, tart apple slices into a crust laced with cinnamon and pine nuts, served warm with dried cranberries, vanilla gelato and whipped cream. Tiramisu Gelato ($3) is an almond-flavored, cakey ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Both are highly recommended.

In a restaurant this small, the kitchen sometimes has to shift gears with large parties, and other patrons adjust accordingly. Thus a longer than appropriate time elapsed between salads and entrees on one visit, a function of a large party in another room. Other than that, I found service appropriately paced and commendably well-informed.

Rob and Tracy Lamothe are the owners. Her professional training is in accounting (a good background if you operate a restaurant!). She used to operate a f armer s' m arket stand. His background is in information technology. The restaurant is named for her great-great-grandfather, Giovanni Riva, who lived and cooked in a Northern Italian-Swiss town, and the Lamothes' daughter, Riva Simone.
Riva's strikes me as a restaurant that is especially well-suited for the times. The experience is enjoyable, the food is good, and value is strong.

John Batchelor is a freelance contributor who has been reviewing restaurants for more than 20 years. You can reach him at P.O. Box 20848, Greensboro, NC 27420 or send e-mail to john.e.batchelor@gmail.com.