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Friday, March 30, 2001
By Woodene Merriman, Post-Gazette Dining Critic
The menu warned me: "These items take an additional amount of time to prepare."
Yes, if I wanted the pollo arrosto Abruzzese it would be an hour's wait, the waitress said. Then she added the clincher: "But it's wonderful."
In a world where so many restaurant dishes are prepared well in advance and wait on steam tables or under warming lights, I couldn't resist the thought of a juicy half chicken, just roasted with wine and garlic and served sizzling hot with roasted potatoes. The night was dark, cold and rainy in Oakdale, the fireplace at Abruzzi's Cedar House was warm and comforting, and His Honor was pleased with the carafe of the house wine, a Montepulciano, he had ordered, so why not? Besides, what's the hurry about getting back onto the parkway?
So for an hour we ate soup, appetizer, salad and bread, taking time to savor it all, and sipped the Montepulciano. The chicken pastina soup was loaded with bits of chicken and pastina. The three big clam shells stuffed with the restaurant's own bread and crabmeat stuffing were fetchingly browned on top. Thick slices of BreadWorks bread, dipped in the olive oil, were just right with the slightly peppery ranch peppercorn dressing on the house salads of mixed greens, tomato, ripe olives and cucumber slices. The only problem was trying not to eat too much before my chicken was ready.
My back was to the kitchen but I knew when the chicken was coming out. "Look at that!" I could hear the people at the next table saying as it came by. It was a big half chicken, lightly browned and dotted with bits of spices from the restaurant's own blend.
The kind of chicken you might expect to get in a country home kitchen in the Abruzzi area of Italy, it was worth the wait.
H.H., I'm sorry to say, didn't make out so well. His vitello Romano, we suspect, was ready to be served and had to wait for my chicken. The Romano batter on tender pieces of veal was a tad soggy, and he scraped it all off. The scaloppini had been sauteed with white wine, lemon, capers and fresh mushrooms and was served with green beans. It was acceptable, but not nearly as exciting as the roast chicken.
Abruzzi's Cedar House is the new (since November) sister restaurant to Abruzzi's on the South Side. Menus are identical, but specials may differ. The kitchen manager at the new restaurant is James McGowan, and Brian Doyle has come out from the South Side kitchen to work with him.
Owner Tony Masci has been working on the wine list for this new restaurant and it may be even better than the wine list on South Side, according to Melanie Evankovich, manager at Abruzzi Cedar House. The new list has some pinot noirs from Oregon's Willamette Valley, Italian barolos and barbarescos and lighter selections such as sangiovese. Appropriately, it's mostly Italian and California, with no bottles from France or Germany. Prices range from $26 to $69. The carafe of Montepulciano, made from the vigorous red grape variety grown around that town in Abruzzi, is an especially good buy at $18.95, H.H. says.
Inside, the two Abruzzis do not look alike. The South Side restaurant is on 10th Street, where Sarah's used to be. It hasn't changed a whole lot since those days. Abruzzi's Cedar House is in that building on the hillside in Oakdale, outlined in lights as though it's Christmas. Owner Masci doesn't like the lights, Evankovich says, but because of "overwhelming demand" they'll likely stay lit.
The inside of the new restaurant is more intimate and home-like, with deep red walls, the fireplace, tables close together and covered with white cloths. Some work is still to be done on the new restaurant, and I hope that includes finding a better way to separate smoking and no-smoking sections. The wall between the two rooms is shoulder height and we were seated right up against it one night. On the other side, the smoking side, just inches away, were four smokers -- one man with a pipe he never put out, and three chain smokers.
Abruzzi's Cedar House is the kind of restaurant any suburb should be proud to have. The food is routinely good, authentic Italian. And it's not just spaghetti with red sauce, either. The menu has classics like manicotti, cheese or spinach, veal and cheese stuffed cannelloni, eggplant parmigiana or rotelli, a long list of pasta choices prepared with a variety of sauces, chicken, beef, veal, lamb and seafood dishes.
Homemade desserts, some of the best in the city, are made by the restaurant's own Carol Finnell. The bar is big and busy. The only time we noticed excessive noise in the restaurant was late one Saturday, when a group who had been spending the evening at the bar decided it was time to go in for dinner.
My favorite appetizer is salicci di papera, or duck sausage split open, grilled and served with fresh greens sauteed with olive oil, garlic and seasonings. Unfortunately the duck sausage is difficult to get, and the appetizer may have to come off the menu, Evankovich says. Spinach tortellini with artichokes and a tomato cream sauce is an excellent vegetarian dish, but may never make it to the regular menu because the pasta, like that duck sausage, is hard to get.
One "special" H.H. ordered one night will not likely make it to the menu, ever. It was a roast lamb slice, very well done, with a creamy raisin topping.
"Why did they let that out of the kitchen?" H.H. wondered aloud. "Why did you order it? It doesn't even sound good," I replied, although he really wasn't looking for an answer. Cooks often are allowed to come up with their own combinations for a special, here as in other restaurants, and sometimes they are better forgotten.
But Abruzzi's Cedar House has many dishes that work, and work well. I would be delighted to have the roasted half chicken anytime. Next time, though, I'm going to call ahead and see if they'll put it in the oven before we arrive.
Abruzzi's Cedar House
Melanie Evankovich, manager at Abruzzi's Cedar House, brings out the crowd-pleasing half chicken, dotted with a blend of spices. (John Heller, Post-Gazette) 
2002 Montour Church Road, Oakdale
412-787-9966
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 4-9 p.m. SundayThe basics: Authentic Italian dishes in the style of Abruzzi, Italy; typical prices -- roast half chicken, $16.95; veal romano, $18.95;clams Abruzzi appetizer, $7.25; parking area in front of restaurant; full bar and good, mostly Italian, wine list; seats about 100; wheelchair-accessible through back; small smoking section in dining room, but it opens into no-smoking area; major credit cards; reservations.The last word: 