Soul-Soothing Italian Fare

I have this friend, Rich, a first-generation Italian and a fabulous cook. An invitation to dine at the his home, along with his Italian wife, promises a settimo cielo gastronomic treat. 

With their sepia mural of Venice as a backdrop, the table is invariably set with crisp linens, fresh flowers, and gleaming silver. The lighting is dimmed to a gentle glow. Dean Martin might well be crooning “Volare.”

Then there’s the food. Osso bucco perhaps. Or Chicken Vesuvius. Or a tableside Caesar salad. Most are recipes from Rich’s Italian Nonna and Momma at his childhood home in Philadelphia, where grapes were dumped down a chute into the basement and the family stomped them to make “dago red” wine.

It doesn’t get more Italian than that, so when I heard Rich rave about Sirena Serious EATalian, well, I knew I had to try it. 

The eatery debuted in 2004 and is located at the end of a strip of shops in Great Neck. The ever-gracious Fabio Rinaldi serves as proprietor and enforcer of the restaurant’s motto: Italy without the airfare.

So sans jet lag, on a recent Thursday, two friends and I settled into a sturdy little table set with crisp linens and fresh flowers and the kind of low lighting that makes everyone look good. 

A proper Italian meal starts with antipasti, an appetizer course. Sirena has plenty to choose from: mussels ($14), a grilled eggplant casserole ($11), calamari both sauteed and fried ($13), grilled octopus ($16), and two carpaccio dishes: yellowfin tuna ($13) and beef tenderloin ($15), the latter preparation rarely found on local menus. Rarer still is the Alici ($11), imported marinated white anchovies (larger and milder than their tinned cousins). married with grape tomatoes, pinenuts, raisins, black olives, capers, fennel, and mint.

Tempted, we instead slid over to the contori, or side dish menu, and chose to nibble on Funghi Trifolati ($7.50), a generous dish of meaty, sliced cremini and portobello mushrooms with tender pops of roasted garlic, a simple yet memorable starter.

A proper Italian meal would move from antipasti to the primo course, which might be soup or pasta. Again, Sirena’s choices are many, ranging from Pasta e Fagioli or Italian wedding soup ($7.50) to more than a dozen inspired pasta dishes. Sure, there’s the classic spaghetti in a pomodoro sauce ($17.50), but there’s also the more unusual Farfalle al Gorgonzola ($19.50), a dish that coats bowtie pasta in a creamy gorgonzola swirled with pears, walnuts, and radicchio.

Recalling a long ago afternoon when we spent hours making a massive pot of unforgettable bolognese, my friend Holly opted to try the Tagliatelle Bolognese ($19.50). At Sirena (just like at my house that day!), they roll their own fettucini. The warm, flat strands coated in a soul-soothing soffritto ragu flecked with crumbles of angus beef didn’t disappoint. 

Jen craved a lighter dish and opted for Penne al Salmone ($22). The generous portion of penne pasta came slicked with a white wine cream sauce and studded with English peas, quartered cremini mushrooms, and flecks of oh-so-tender salmon to add just the right reminder of the sea.

Conversely, I was in the mood to sin more boldly. My plate of classic Spaghetti alla Carbonara ($19) lived up to the little quip below it on the menu: “As close as you get to Rome without airfare!” I’ve made this eggy, cheesy dish many times and at Sirena especially loved the little cubes of meaty, slightly salty, and slightly fatty house cured pancetta hidden throughout the tangle of noodles.

Sirena also proffers secondi courses featuring chicken, Dover sole, and veal, but we had no room for that, meaning that we will soon be behind the wheel zooming back to Sirena for our secondi.

 Italy minus airfare, indeed.

Food Find: Sirena Serious EATalian
sirenavb.com • 757-481-1650
1328 North Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach
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Mon.-Sat. 4:30 - 9 p.m. • Closed Sunday
Antipasti: $9-$16; Insalata e zuppa: $7.50-$13; Contorni (sides): $7-$8
La Pasta: $17.50-$22; Secondi Piatti with spaghetti: $23-$26
Dolce (dessert): $7.50-$8.50; Wines by the glass: $7.50-$11
Beer: $5-$6; Soft drinks: $3.50; Lemonade: $4.50
Kids’ entrees of grilled cheese, quesadilla, chicken fingers or noodles: $6-$10
Gluten-free and gluten-free optional dishes available

Lorraine Eaton, formerly with the Virginian-Pilot, is co-author of the “Food Lover’s Guide to Virginia,” and author of “Tidewater Table,” a local bestseller. She has won numerous writing awards, and her work has been included in “Best Food Writing.” Lorraine lives in Va. Beach.