TI AMO

Northwest Fare, Italian Flare

By David Guiotto

In a mood to fall in love with the Italian eatery next door? Ti Amo, which means “I love you” in that most loving of languages, is a family-style Italian restaurant located in the former Flatbread building in Boise’s Bown Crossing. Through a passion for great food, mid-range prices, a full bar and an inviting patio, Ti Amo wants to spread the culinary love to its neighbors in Harris Ranch and beyond.

“It’s families, it’s kids,” said Nikolai Castoro, operating partner of the Torro Restaurant Group, which owns Ti Amo. “Not a lot of people are looking to go out to a fine dining restaurant in Bown Crossing.” The menu certainly is a crowd pleaser, featuring a wide range of traditional northern and southern Italian recipes combined with some American staples, such as burgers and steaks spruced up with a dash of standard Italian ingredients. The Chianti Caramelized Onion Burger or the Grilled Rib Eye, served with fingerling potatoes, surely will bring a smile to any meat eaters in the party not quite in the mood for Italian fare.

While the Torro Restaurant Group is known for its upscale dining spots, such as Barbacoa, Coa de Jima, and Coa del Mar in Eagle, this young suitor aims to be a more casual neighborhood favorite.

If pizza is what’s craved, Ti Amo offers a colorful palette of traditional pies with modern touches, from a Margherita to a Diavola to a Bianco Magnifico. The Fig and Prosciutto, topped with a balsamic glaze, olive oil, and agave, is especially tempting. Alongside pizzas is a classic lineup of pastas, each with a Ti Amo flourish, such as the Linguini Frutti di Mare or the Spaghetti Alla Bolognese. The Homemade Lasagna is layered with Italian sausage, fennel, herbed ricotta, and mozzarella. is pasta dish made in-house proves the old adage that the fastest way to one’s heart is through their stomach.

Affectionately inspired by its home turf, the menu boasts choice entrees that blend Northwest fare and Italian flare. The Baked Salmon is presented over roasted potatoes, broccolini, and a Mediterranean compote. The Idaho Trout A Limone, topped with a lemon caper white wine sauce, is a dish any Ligurian net-slinger would find mouth-watering.

On the Soup and Salad menu are dependable loves such as the Classic Caesar Salad, featuring Calabrian peppers, and the Minestrone soup, along with a Chicken Apple Walnut salad, mixed with fresh eld greens and blue cheese crumbles, that would draw the admiration of any Piemontese.

For those slow to warm to the affections of the new kid on the block, Ti Amo offers regular happy hour, brunch, and cocktail specials. Their happy hour half-priced cocktails (seven days a week from 3:30 to 5:30) are certain to blush the cheeks of even the hardest of hearts.

Revived from the name of the Castoro family’s first restaurant—an award-winning hot-spot operated in Laguna Beach, California—Ti Amo believes that through a passion for fine food and an embrace of new surroundings, it really is possible to fall in love all over again.