You won't be dining under the Tuscan sun, but you will enjoy Siena, an ambitious new Italian-American restaurant that opened in January in Camillus.
Owner Hans Lazuardi, who also owns and operates Dante on Walton Street in Syracuse's Armory Square, has used part of the building that once housed Top o' the Hill and Plainville Turkey Farm Restaurant to create a spacious family bar-dining spot. It shares the building with World of Wonder Child Care Center.
When we visited on a recent Thursday evening, the large dining room was dressed for dinner with tables topped with black cloths, white napkins, silverware and a single fresh red carnation in each bud vase.
Modern wall sconces, recessed ceiling lighting and an open kitchen at one end were part of the decor, and service from a capable staff dressed in black was friendly and attentive.
Food we sampled, except for one appetizer, was first-rate in flavor, and Siena's large menu offered a remarkable variety of such choices as crab manicotti, spicy chicken strudel, pot roast, meatloaf, sauerbraten, fish and chips, prime ribs and, of course, Italian favorites.
Antipasti heads the menu with 13 choices ($5 to $14), followed by soup and salad, 15 pasta, pizza and risotto dishes ($10 to $16) and 16 entrees ($12 to $24). Entrees include salad, vegetable and choice of potato or pasta. Children have four choices ($5).
Feasting began with a basket of excellent Italian bread, sliced and served warm with a ramekin of soft herb butter. We added a bottle of Frescobaldi Remole Toscana ($18), from the lower end of the wine list.
For a more serious starter, Siena green ($5) sounded like a salad that would collide with the one included with an entree. But our savvy waitress explained that it was a hot baked casserole of braised escarole, pieces of sausage, lemon wedges and crisp crostini. She assured us it would not be large, but she thought we meant for two people. It was large, but definitely worth that trip into delicious new antipasti.
Eggplant rollatini ($6), however, should have stayed in the kitchen. Difficult to cut even with a knife, the chewy, overcooked burnt eggplant skin masked any tender vegetable texture or flavor, and ricotta filling was an after-thought along with good tomato sauce on top. We were not charged for the dish.
Chilled house salads with fresh baby greens were simply garnished with cherry tomatoes and a few thin onion rounds. The restaurant does not make its own dressings, but the Parmesan-peppercorn topping had a nice zip.
Delivered on hot plates, entrees were generous and tasted made to order. Braciolla ($19) contained three battered and seared tender veal rolls filled with prosciutto and baked with green peppers and tomato sauce.
Chicken cacciatore ($14), rarely on local menus these days, was a delicious old favorite. Half a chicken with bones and skins was fork tender in a stew with carrots,
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