With the opening of Flavors of Italy by Italy native Giuseppe Iannuzzi and his wife, Anna Maria, folks in Soddy-Daisy are getting another option for dining. As a resident of the area, I say it’s high time, as so many of our options are fast-food restaurants and meat-and-threes.
The crowds at the Italian eatery indicate others are hungry for a little taste of Italy too.
THE MENU
Diners have a range of lunch and dinner choices. They range from salads, pasta, hot subs, homemade soup that changes daily and pizza during the lunch hour to more extensive pasta offerings, appetizers and a number of specialties, such as shrimp scampi, chicken Marsala and eggplant or chicken Parmesan.
The order (for two): Italian-style stuffed mushrooms; Chicken Alfredo; Chicken Francese; Italian creme cake.
For starters, the mushrooms were excellent. About eight of them came on a plate. Fresh and quite large, they were brimming with ground turkey, herbs and Parmesan cheese topped with a wonderful garlicky tomato-vodka sauce. Wonderful choice. The sauce was also good for dipping the bread brought to our table as our water was delivered.
The entrees were very generous. My chicken Francese consisted of two large chicken breasts atop a huge serving of pasta tossed in lemon-butter sauce. Very good, but very mild. I didn’t detect a lot of lemon in the sauce. The chicken Alfredo was outstanding with a little extra Parmesan added.
Salads come with most entrees and are a nice mix of lettuces with housemade dressings. The oil and balsamic is a good choice, as well as the Caesar.
Best bets: Chicken Francese, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, pasta in tomato-vodka sauce with chopped ham and Parmesan.
Vegetarian choices: Eggplant rollatini (sliced eggplant stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, herbs and cheese baked in tomato sauce and topped with cheese); pizza Margarita; eggplant Parmesan. Good deal: Most lunch specials feature unlimited soup and garlic rolls.
THE SPACE
Flavors of Italy is in a small house renovated to hold about 10 tables and roughly 40 seats. I did the counting while waiting on our table. You may have to wait as well if you’re dining at the height of the dinner hour. If you’re in a hurry but still want to indulge in the Flavors of Italy, lunch, while busy, is a better time to enjoy the culinary work Mr. Iannuzzi has mastered as a chef in Italy and Germany, as well as here in the States. A large parking lot handles the crowds with little problem. Later this spring, Mrs. Iannuzzi told me, plans are in the works for an outside deck to extend the dining area. If business stays brisk, the Iannuzzis have three acres of land they can use to enlarge the interior space.
THE SERVICE
Flavors of Italy is in its infancy, and some of the service reflected that just a bit more training is needed. The cheese shaker was barely filled. Chicken went missing on the Alfredo until the server was notified, but that situation was remedied immediately. There was a short wait for dressing to go with my salad.
Mrs. Iannuzzi told me that before extending the restaurant space, she would further the servers’ training. That said, our server, Carla, was as pleasant as they come.
THE VERDICT
Without sounding too cheesy, I say mamma mia, it’s good. What a plus for Soddy-Daisy.
