Searching for one of the hottest new restaurants in town? Follow the crowds and look no further than Fiamma. The restaurant is snuggled in the Park Square Shopping Center on Park Road in the space once home to the Rheinland Haus. Chefs and owners Kerwin Astidillo and Fernando Campoverde opened the doors May 28 after extensive remodeling. Longtime Charlotte restaurant patrons will hardly recognize the place. “We took out walls, painted, and opened up the dining room and the kitchen,” explained Astidillo. Before, the space was dark, small and cramped; but now, in addition to giving themselves more elbow room in the food prep areas,

Astidillo and Campoverde’s renovations have made the dining room airier and much more appealing. In one corner of the kitchen is a wood-burning pizza oven situated with the flame side open to the dining room. The oven’s 700-degree flame, or fiamma in Italian, is where the restaurant gets it name.

Surefire winner
The menu at Fiamma is Italian although Astidillo and Campoverde originally hail from Ecuador. My first question was to ask if the two had considered opening an Ecuadorian restaurant.

“We really did our research and came to Charlotte because it’s a good town for restaurants and a good place to raise our families. Maybe an Ecuadorian restaurant some day, but right now, Italian cuisine is what works here,” said Astidillo.

From the American Italian-style chains to the more upscale, independently owned establishments, each one seems to have found its own niche on the Queen City restaurant scene.

“The quality comes from using fresh ingredients. But our goal is to offer a complete dining experience – food, service, wine – it all goes together,” said Campoverde. “This is the American dream, to work hard, do a good job and have a successful business.” Astidillo and Campoverde come to Charlotte from New York with a great deal of restaurant experience, a laundry list of credentials and culinary know-how.

Blazing salads
The dinner menu at Fiamma is divided into sections featuring antipasti or appetizers, meats, seafoods, pizzas and desserts, but quite honestly it’s taken me several trips to get through the pasta and salads. While one would normally consider these two courses precursors to the main event, at Fiamma, they are each a cause for celebration.

Unique salad choices include insalate del tropici with frisée greens, hearts of palm and cherry tomatoes topped with large slices of thinly shaved Parmesan; delizia del contradine, a mixed green salad with spicy walnuts, pears and Tuscan pecorino cheese; and insalata di carciofi, where the plate of frisée is topped with thin slices of sautéed baby artichoke, studded with whole pistachios and, like the hearts of palm salad, finished with thinly shaved Parmesan.

The listing of appetizers includes a soup of the day, a tasty salmon tartar, and a don’t-you-dare-miss-it calamari dish called calamari al salto. For those compelled to ask for calamari breaded and fried, this dish is a real step out of the box. Treat yourself to tender ribbons of calamari, sautéed like fat pieces of pasta with chunks of avocado and finished in white wine and pepperoncini. The warm rich flavor will bring your taste buds to life.

Team the salad or starter with one of Fiamma’s fabulous pasta dishes for a winning combination. Many of the pastas are homemade and noodles practically melt in your mouth. Tagliolini allo zafferano features a pile of fresh homemade tagliolini seasoned with saffron and served with large chunks of crabmeat and sautéed tomatoes; while the linguine neri con polipo is a plate of black linguini, made with squid ink to achieve the color, and tossed with tender octopus in a homemade spicy tomato sauce. Both dishes are top notch. As far as pastas featuring macaroni noodles go, for me, it’s a toss up between the penne bizanzio, served with fresh tomato, basil and mozzarella, the rigatoni alle tre p with prosciutto, peas and heavy cream and the fuisilli segesta served with a San Marzano tomato sauce, eggplant and a grated ricotta salata.

While these dishes center around purchased pasta rather than homemade, the quality is extremely high. That said, my favorite pasta at Fiamma is the ravioli de giorno. Each day handmade thin, tender pillows of light dough are stuffed with a different filling. I’ve had ravioli at Fiamma stuffed once with roasted eggplant and once with a mix of sautéed mushrooms; both could easily be described as heavenly.

An inferno of flavors
It’s the combination and interaction of flavors at Fiamma that makes the place a standout. Each sauce is different with characteristics and seasonings suited to each individual dish. When it comes to meats and seafoods Fiamma doesn’t disappoint. Lamb loin chops on the dinner menu and braised lamb shank, often served as a special, are both presented with creamy, soft polenta. Superb. Likewise for the pollo al mattone, roasted chicken finished with lemon and herbs, served with potatoes and caramelized onions. Tender red snapper is sautéed with white wine, tomato broth, olives and capers for a taste of the Mediterranean.

Pizzas are large enough for two to share as a starter or for one person to enjoy alongside a soup, salad or appetizer. The crust is thin, crisp and crunchy. Toppings take in a variety of flavor from the robiola pizza with imported cow’s milk cheese and white truffle oil to the fungi pizza topped with wild mushrooms, tomato and mozzarella. The four-cheese pizza topped with Gorgonzola, mozzarella, fontina and Parmesan is full-flavored, while the classic margherita pie with fresh tomato basil and mozzarella is delightfully understated.

It always seems trite to say save room for dessert, but at Fiamma it is a must. While the light and airy ricotta cheesecake, the rich vanilla panna cotto drizzled with aged balsamic and the raspberry topped caramelized custard crème brulée are all excellent choices, it’s the warm chocolate tart that stole my heart. If you dine at Fiamma on a weeknight when the dining room isn’t quite as busy, you might also be treated to gelato from time to time or a sip of Campoverde’s homemade limoncello, a syrupy lemon liquor that makes a perfect end to the evening.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Billotto writes "The Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@thecharlotteweekly.com.

This article first appeared in "The Charlotte Weekly" on November 3, 2006. "The Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in North and South Charlotte and Uptown.

Copyright 2007 by The Charlotte Weekly and WSOCTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.