Tasty Italian Cuisine At ‘Al Di La’

There are some restaurants that have the kind of sparkling word-of-mouth reputation that no marketing budget can buy. A favorite of local residents and critics alike, West Ashley’s Al di La is one of those restaurants. The tiny northern Italian-style trattoria tucked into an indistinct strip of shops just off the Savannah Highway, near Gene’s Haufbrau is consistently one of the most highly recommended restaurants in the city.

Don’t let Al di La’s humble location fool you into thinking you’ll be able to stroll up and grab a table any night of the week. In my only previous experience dining there, it took me three separate attempts to make a reservation before I was able to sneak in. On this occasion, however, we were able to grab a table right when the restaurant opened at 6 p.m.

Al di La’s menu is broken up into the four standard courses of Italian cuisine - antipasti ($4.50 to $10), primi ($5 to $13), secondi ($16 to $19.25), and dolci ( about $7). If you’re looking for chicken parmigiana or lasagna, you’re looking in the wrong place. In fact, if that’s the only kind of Italian cuisine you’ve experienced, you’re not likely to consider most of Al di La’s menu to sound Italian at all. Northern Italian cuisine places less emphasis on olive oil, tomato-based sauces and noodles, instead favoring butter, wine and broth-based sauces, risotto and polenta.

For our first course, we decided to start light with a shepherd’s salad ($7.25). Offering a little bit of everything, this salad includes genoa salami, spicy sopressata, ubriaco cheese (which tastes similar to asiago), grapes and walnuts, all served over a bed of mixed greens with a citrus vinaigrette. While I enjoyed the salad, in retrospect I wish we had opted for one of their more interesting offerings like the smoked beef carpaccio ($8) or oven-roasted pears with prosciutto and gorgonzola ($8.50).

As much I’ve loved just about everything I’ve had in my two experiences at Al di La, I think the restaurant shines most with its primi offerings. On this night, we chose the tagilatelle with porcini mushrooms, duck confit and truffle oil ($10.25). This was unquestionably the highlight of our meal. The rich, decadent flavors of the confit and truffle oil, the wonderful aroma of the mushrooms, and the texture of the noodles (which are freshly made in-house, daily) all combine to make this dish an undeniable success. However, I was happy that we chose this as only our second course, because I think it may have been too heavy for a much larger portion. Other tantalizing options in this section include lobster and shrimp ravioli ($13) and strangozzi spolentina with spicy sausage, pancetta, nutmeg and lemon zest ($11.25)

For my main course, I decided again on duck, but in a much different form. The pan-roasted duck breast ($19.25) was cooked to a perfect, tender medium rare and served in a subtly sweet and tangy sauce of apple cider and brown stock. The mashed potatoes and root vegetables were simple and well prepared. There isn’t really a lot I can say about this dish, other than the fact that it was really well executed. I enjoyed having two opposite preparations of duck back to back. Shows you how versatile an ingredient it is.

My partner chose the prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast stuffed with fontina cheese, pine nuts and golden raisins ($16). My general opinion is that anything wrapped in prosciutto is always better than something not wrapped in prosciutto, and this dish did nothing to prove otherwise. The mildly salty flavor of the prosciutto and juicy chicken breast were good on their own but the creamy, flavorful filling made the dish.

For dessert, we selected the lemon-olive oil cake ($7) with macerated strawberries and mascarpone cheese. This was a simple, delicious offering that put a nice cap on the meal.

Overall, Al di La fully lived up to my lofty expectations. The food was excellent, the service was friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere lends itself perfectly to a quiet dinner for two. If you’re looking for somewhere new to take a date and want to avoid the peninsula, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t check out what very well may be Charleston’s best Italian restaurant. For a little lighter way to start your evening, be sure to check out Al di La’s bar menu which features small plates, wood-fired pizzettes, charcuterie and cheeses, all for about $8 or less.