Davio'S Lynnfield

Davio'S Northern Italian Steakhouse in Lynnfield opened about a month ago at the Market Street open-air lifestyle shopping complex. (This really means big shopping center without a roof). I live in Woburn and this was just a few exits north on Rte128 and I had no clue that this complex was here. It's anchored by a big Whole Foods Market. I just reviewed Steve DiFillippo's book "It's all about the guest" and decided to try the food for lunch. Full review of the book can be found HERE. Short version, the book is really good.

Exterior looks nice but the interior...

Is gorgeous with a nice big bar just off the entrance and a big dining room with high ceilings further in and really high-quality furniture. The silverware was really nice as well. Sometimes you get cutlery that looks good but feels awkward but not here. This is important for those of us who use the cutlery properly ;-). The open kitchen can be seen in the back.

A basket with homemade potato chips and bread arrived promptly accompanied by some olive oil. The chips were very addictive so I never got to the bread, but I'm sure it was good.

I started with the American Style Kobe Beef Meatballs with Caciocavallo cheese in a tomato sauce. Very tender meatballs with a really beefy flavor served in a HOT bowl and the tomato sauce was really rich and delicious.

This is the Tagliatelle Bolognese with Braised Veal, Beef, Pork and Tomato Sauce. The sauce was meaty, rich and really excellent, but the hero here was the pasta! Light, silky smooth and cooked perfectly. This is a deceivingly simple looking dish, but an enormous amount of work goes into getting this just right. The pasta!

I was stuffed and then the tray of DOOM appeared. They, of course, have an in-house pastry chef and I can not remember all the dishes but the wiggly Panna Cotta with fresh berries caught my eye.

Look at this! The Panna Cotta was outstandingly delicious as was the impeccable fresh fruit. Again a very simple dish, just heat cream and milk, mix in some gelatine and vanilla and you are done. Not really, again it takes a lot of experience to get this just right and of course, they do. Another excellent dish and what a way to end the meal. The service was impeccable, the manager stopped by to make sure everything was all right and I noticed him circulating and talking to the guests. The waitstaff all looked neat, I noticed at Capital Grille that the staffs jackets didn't really fit and that made the whole place look a bit sloppy.

Full disclosure. This was paid for by Davio'S but all opinions are my own.