Ziti's

Looks can be deceiving as this Westborough Italian trattoria proves

by Margaret LeRoux

Ziti's Italian Trattoria Speedway Shopping Center Westborough 898-2282 Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-10 p.m. No credit cards Full bar Handicap accessible

Sometimes, when you least expect it, you find a real treasure. Ziti's Italian Trattoria in Westborough, is one of those gems. It's a plain storefront in the Speedway Plaza, one of the numerous strip malls that line Route 9. But there's nothing ordinary about the food Ziti's serves.

I'd first heard about Ziti's from an acquaintance who mentioned she liked the restaurant because she could take her toddler there. I mentally tucked away the recommendation as one of those bland, family-type restaurants. My expectations were modest, and so is the impression given by Ziti's decor -- a few posters on the walls, pleasant lighting, but otherwise you could be in any local pizza place in the country. At the back end of the small restaurant is an open kitchen, and that's where all the action is. The night a friend and I dined, four cooks were busy turning out pizzas and plates of steaming pasta.

Our waitress pleasantly directed us to a table after we mistakenly thought the procedure was to place your order at the counter.

At dinner there's much to choose from like sandwiches and pizzas to the basic pasta dishes, including carbonara, puttanesca, pesto, and arrabbiata.

For seafood, Ziti's features fresh shellfish over linguine (in the $9.65 to $12.95 range) and a nightly "Pasquale's special," which was baked halibut the night we dined.

Chicken too comes in different presentations from marsala, lemon-butter sauces, and parmigiana (all $9.65).

The intriguing list of specials, however, proves that Ziti's is a restaurant an Italian would love: homemade pastas like saffron linguine, tomato-basil fettuccine, and porcini ravioli. You see those and suddenly your expectations begin to rise.

We started with Pasquale's special salad: fresh mozzarella slices drizzled with olive oil and vinegar, topped with fresh basil, and surrounded by sliced tomatoes. The cheese was fresh and creamy. Too bad the tomatoes were pallid by comparison. Alongside was served a loaf of wonderfully crusty, chewy bread; among the best loaves I've been served. It's baked daily on the premises.

My choice of entree was one of the specials, saffron linguine. I received a platter of bright yellow pasta colorfully dotted with chopped red tomato, green basil, large, pink shrimp, and pearly white scallops, and doused in a superb, lemon-garlic sauce. I was impressed by the freshness of the ingredients and at the skill and speed of the cooks who brought them together so swiftly. At $12.95, the top price on Ziti's menu, this dish is worth every penny.

So too was my companion's selection, described simply as veal roll ($12.95). Two generous scaloppini of veal were rolled around a filling of fresh chopped spinach, prosciutto, and provolone cheese. Sautéed in wine with fresh mushroom slices added, the rolls were rich and earthy. Alongside was served generous portion of ziti with marinara sauce. Here, too, appearances were deceiving. The simple-looking sauce tasted anything but plain -- it was bursting with flavor. The only thing missing from this near-perfect meal was a glass of wine. But as of April 1, Ziti's has been approved for a full liquor license. We drank mineral water ($1.75); our bill totaled a modest $36.33, not including tip.

In a phone interview later, I learned that Ziti's chef/owners, Stephano Gajjoui and Pasquale Rando, came from southern Italy and worked for several years in Italian restaurants in Boston's North End before opening their own places (there's another Ziti's in Natick). I imagine the two are like hundreds of similar trattorias in Italy; but for Central Massachusetts, they're a real find, offering surprisingly sophisticated cuisine at quite reasonable prices.