Risotto

• Cuisine(s): Italian
  Hours: Sun,Fri,Sat 5pm-10pm, Mon-Sat 11am-2pm, Mon-Thu 5pm-9pm
  Price: $$
• Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining
  Serving: Dinner, Lunch
• Alcohol: Beer/Wine
  Reservations: Accepted, Recommended on Weekends
  Parking: Street

Description

Risotto, helmed by Gabriele Lo Pinto, the chef who ran Edina's Arezzo for eight years, fills the classy-chic niche that post-construction Lyn-Lake has been looking for. The dining room is pretty in a spare, loft-like way, with its concrete floors, rust-and-gold walls, and urban views. The restaurant's signature dish is not-surprisingly risotto (though, surprisingly, it's not on the menu at lunch), cooked to order, a method which outshines par-cooked rice--Lo Pinto describes the difference as being "like buying a new car versus a used one." And after 20 years of cooking risotto in Italy, Asia, and Minnesota, he should know. The rice is a blank canvass for such pairings as house-made Sicilian sausage, saffron, and asparagus, or fresh peas and Fontina cheese. If you must stray from risotto, the entrees--past favorites include chicken breast sauteed with leeks and mushrooms, walleye and spinach in caper sauce--are preferable to the pastas.