Trattoria Alberto is no longer a well-kept secret.
In the 15 years of its existence, Baltimoreans who are serious about their food have gotten used to trekking down to a strip mall on Crain Highway in Glen Burnie for imaginative northern Italian cuisine served up with a healthy dollop of attitude. Some people consider it the equal to, or even better than, any restaurant you can find in Little Italy.
They love the comfortable, soothing dining room, decorated in warm neutrals -- unexpectedly sophisticated, given the strip mall location. They love the fine ingredients and the masterly hand in the kitchen (chef and owner Alberto Contestabile).
Chef Alberto grills squid so it manages to be tender and just slightly charred, with a silky, lemony sauce. He combines bresaola, tissue-thin slices of salted beef, with peppery arugula and shavings of parmesan to create a magic first course. He swathes a firm, sweet swordfish fillet in a suave sauce of lemon, olive oil, black olives, garlic and capers and pairs it with a spoonful of creamy polenta. His homemade pasta is spectacularly tender and comforting.
The restaurant itself has a free-wheeling quality that's very appealing. The waiter recites the specials, and then a bit later the maitre d' comes over and mentions a seafood soup the chef has decided to create. We only learn that gnocchi is among the offerings this evening by eavesdropping on the table nearby. The vegetable of the day is sauteed zucchini, the waiter tells us, but it turns out to be baby carrots and snowpeas. Sure, it's attitude; but it works in the context of a creative chef trying to produce the finest meal possible.
So I order the seafood soup as a first course, and don't think to ask the price because all the other soups on the menu are $6.50. And then I try not to have a heart attack when I get the check and find that the pleasant combination of two pieces of lobster in its shell, a shrimp or two, and scallops in a broth thickened with potatoes (not a good idea) costs $16.95.
I've heard complaints that Trattoria Alberto's specials are so much more expensive than the dishes on the menu. Ask what those enchanting-sounding specials cost. What I mind more is that the waiter and the maitre d' market them aggressively. I know they're selling a product, but I like to pretend they just want me to have a wonderful dinner, at least until the check arrives.
But back to our meal. We're getting restless because the main courses are taking so long, even though the restaurant is half empty. The waiter comes to say that the chef wasn't happy with our order of duck breast with fresh figs and has decided to redo it. "It was fine, but he's picky," the waiter confides. That's nice, but we've been here a long time, and I have to wonder what's happening with the other entrees while the duck is being redone.
What's happening is that the pasta and the swordfish have survived unscathed, but the T-bone steak hasn't. The meat has been sliced off the bone and arranged around it, then covered with sauteed mushrooms and a masterful brown sauce. But because the dish has been kept warm, the slices are no longer medium-rare as ordered. They aren't even medium. Anyway, don't most folks like to cut their own steak off the bone?
So much here is superb that the missteps seem all the more egregious. Freshly made pappardelle pasta sauteed in olive oil with shrimp and clams could be out of this world, and with a sprinkling of chopped parsley looks too pretty to eat. Which is appropriate, because it's too salty to eat. (The seafood soup is oversalted as well.)
But the redone duck is wonderful: rare as ordered, sauced with an aromatic reduction, and arranged with fresh figs and plump raisins.
It's hard not to save room for dessert because a tempting pastry cart greets you as you're shown to your table so you know what you're saving room for. The elegant pastries are shipped from Milan, our waiter told us; but they can't hold a candle to the quiveringly tender creme caramel or the cloud-like tiramisu made in house.
TRATTORIA ALBERTO
Food: ** 1/2
Service: ** 1/2
Atmosphere: ***
Where: 1660 Crain Highway
Hours: Open for lunch Sunday through Friday, for dinner every night
Prices: Appetizers, $8.50-$16.95; main courses, $16.95-$29.95
Call: 410-761-0922
Rating system: Outstanding: ****; Good: ***; Fair or uneven: **; Poor: *
