Dining Out

Sampling some of the borough’s best meals in West Chester’s premier dinner destinations. This Month: Dolce Zola

There was a time, not that long ago, when the 100 block of Gay Street held very little appeal. It seemed to be the one segment of our main drag that refused to get on board with the downtown revitalization the rest of West Chester had been happily embracing since the turn of the century. But those days are no more.

Now there’s Roots, Social, Avalon, D’Ascenzo’s, Tish Boutique, Katz Gallery... the list of highlights goes on. One could easily make an argument for the 100 block exhibiting the best of the borough. And right there in the middle of it all is dolce Zola, a restaurant so clearly created to share the owners’ passion for pasta that they’ve become a standout even in a community brimming with exquisite Italian cuisine.

The exterior is unassuming, with a facade spanning two brick row homes looking like any others along this stretch. When you pass through the front doors, however, you’re treated to a view straight through the well-lit, modern kitchen that occupies most of the upper level of the first building. The walk from the host stand to the dining room passes through what used to be an exterior wall and into the adjoining building while traversing a glass floor showcasing a view of the lower level.

Your first glimpse of the main dining area is of exposed brick, with a small and functional corner bar serving up a selection of cocktails and quality wines. The space then wends its way into a corridor of gray plaster walls lined with two-tops and four-tops, adorned with abstract art in gold and black that’s reminiscent of a toned-down Pollock.

Larger parties get to take advantage of the lower level, a basement dining space that still feels open and proudly displays the original stone foundation.

While the ambiance is an integral part of the entire experience, managing editor

Kate Chadwick and I didn’t visit dolce Zola for the views; we came for the food. Kate had been dying to dine here ever since 6ABC’s Adam Joseph espoused his love for the location in an interview with her for our December issue.

The menu offers a dozen antipasti and is full of classics like fried calamari and bruschetta, alongside a few surprises. While I’m confident the caprese and the carpaccio would’ve been excellent, I wanted to see what clever spin dolce Zola would put on their classic ingredients, so we opted for the chicken meatballs and ricotta toast.

But, before the apps could hit the table, our server showed up with my

Ricotta Toast

House-whipped ricotta with pecorino, evoo, crushed almonds, black pepper & honey glass of Pinot Noir, a sliced loaf of Italian bread and a side of marinara. The marinara was an excellent addition. A light and fresh tomato base, it was served with a drizzle of olive oil and topped with herbs, allowing the simple loaf to serve as a vessel for transporting brightly acidic tomato puree to my mouth. We managed to polish off the marinara before the bread.

I’ve always loved meatballs on everything from a Wawa hoagie to homemade rigatoni, but I gave up eating pork a number of years ago. That’s when I discovered that all the best meatballs were made with at least a portion of pig. I had begun to consider that my meatball days were behind me, because every non-pork variation seemed to disappoint. But then I tried these chicken meatballs. Served up with a coating of the aforementioned marinara and a healthy helping of cheese, the meatballs are far smoother and more velvety than any option lacking pork or veal has a right to be. They dissolved on my tongue with the lightest mastication leaving behind a pleasantly buttery mouthfeel.

Next up was the ricotta toast, a dish that I’d have happily eaten as breakfast or dessert but which functioned fantastically as a palate cleanser following the richness of the meatballs. The toasty crushed almonds added a layer of flavor and texture complementing the smooth ricotta and sweet honey. This dish actually prompted a minor dispute between my dining partner and me about who had eaten more.

The trottole that accompanied the seven large shrimp and hearty helping of lump crap was the perfect size and texture, and every forkful of the blush sauce-coated, saucer-shaped shells was suffused with seafood.

As we waited for entrees, Kate got into a conversation with our server about his Elton John tattoo and they swapped stories about Elton’s shows and commiserated about parents who’d prevented them from attending concerts as minors. It was the kind of

Pescatore

Sautéed shrimp, crab, garlic and white wine, finished in a blush sauce.

customer service that’s difficult for an unengaged server to manage, but when accomplished correctly can really make the experience for a diner. I’d wager Kate has more memories of that conversation than anything I said to her from across the table.

The kitchen at dolce Zola also goes above and beyond, because all of the pasta is handmade in house — it’s what they’re famous for, and deservedly so. When you order pasta off the menu, the dish comes with the chef’s choice of noodle, unless you otherwise specify. When I asked for the Pescatore, I put my faith in the kitchen and absolutely made the right decision. The trot-

SPECK & PEAS

Speck, imported from Italy, and peas, sautéed in cream sauce.

tole that accompanied the seven large shrimp and hearty helping of lump crap was the perfect size and texture, and every forkful of the blush sauce-coated, saucer-shaped shells was suffused with seafood.

Kate has no pork prohibition and was all too excited to order the speck and peas, a dish firmly rooted in her memories from a childhood growing up in the only Irish family in an otherwise Italian neighborhood. For those, like me, who didn’t know, speck isn’t just any old pig leg: it’s a style of dry-cured and lightly smoked ham from Northern Italy, and dolce Zola sources theirs straight from derfully rich cream sauce that sticks to every bite. Judging by what Kate’s face did after taking her first bite, I think the speck and peas inspired a Ratatouille-esque moment of reverie.

Kate, though a few years my senior, has retained the palate of that Philly child, so she chose to box up half her speck and peas to-go rather than spoil her appetite for dessert. She settled on the pistachio truffle, a cold pistachio mousse which resembles a decadent ice cream in both flavor and texture. She inquired as to whether it was served with whipped cream, and then requested the add-on a la carte

The spoonfuls Kate insisted I must try were well-balanced with a pistachio-forward flavor that was not overly sweet. However, we opted not to photograph it because the kitchen took Kate’s of whipped cream, looking like a VW Beetle after a blizzard.

In all, I owe Adam Joseph a thank you for his recommendation. I hadn’t been in this building since back when the owners, husband and wife Pietro Belfiore and Antonella Gamba, operated it as iPasta, a quick cuisine version of their excellent noodles that deserves significant credit for being one of the earlier ventures to find success on this block.

The new iteration takes their Italian heritage and those incredible pastas, then builds a top-tier dining experience around them, one worthy of what this end of Gay Street stands for today.