“Keep it simple.” “It’s the little things in life.” We have dozens of sayings that praise simplicity, but the concept is frequently lost on food. Restaurants often try to do too much, but not Amore Trattoria Italiana in Comstock Park. They bring a “home cookin’” feel to some great, simple and authentic Italian food.
My friend and I decided to make the trek on a Wednesday evening. We were a bit shocked to see how humble the exterior of the restaurant was, but once we were inside, it was obvious that the decorating budget was dedicated to the interior, which was classy, modern, and clean. We were seated immediately, as Amore was not busy.
Our waitress supplied us with menus, bread, and Cokes before we could even blink. She was knowledgeable and professional throughout our meal and was perfectly attentive. The service was, needless to say, excellent.
Our meal truly began with lasagna soup ($4). To me, the lasagna soup really embodied the character of Amore’s food — simple and self-explanatory. Saying the lasagna soup was like lasagna after a spin in the blender does the soup a tremendous disservice, but it illustrates how unassuming and humbly delicious it was. The soup had a very thick tomato base with meat and parmesan; it was heavy on noodles and topped with cheese. All in all, it was warm and gooey — and my new expectation for comfort food.
Our entrees arrived in timely fashion and the portions were massive. I stayed in theme for the evening and ordered Lasagna alla Bolognese ($14, and the menu includes excellent pronunciation guides!). My friend ordered Gnocchi di Patate ($14) — both were equally excellent. The lasagna was exactly what I expect lasagna to be — a mess of sauce, noodles, cheese, and meat. It was rich and filling, certainly not dainty. The Gnocchi was similarly simple, but full of a cheesy goodness.
Their Bolognese sauce is really good. Again, Amore doesn’t try to do anything too over the top with their sauce. It has a good tomato flavor, is well seasoned, and has that miniscule hint of spiciness at the end.
We saved room for dessert and ordered the Ravioli di Nutella ($5), which are fried ravioli filled with Nutella and topped raspberry sauce. It didn’t blow me out of the water, but the dessert was good and not too heavy.
All in all, there’s a lot of good to take away from Amore Trattoria Italiana, from a fairly sizeable and diverse menu to their dedication to getting local ingredients when possible. Still, Amore was memorable for me, because they didn’t try to overwhelm me with so-called modern rehashes of classic dishes — just simple, delicious Italian food. I have a feeling my friend and I had only just begun to discover the charming and extremely delicious Amore Trattoria Italiana. It’s definitely worth a visit — I’ll be making another.
