Hip and Homey

East Coast Italian heritage meets California attitude at Zamparelli’s Italian Bistro

Step into Lafayette’s Zamparelli’s Italian Bistro at dinnertime, and you’ll find it buzzing with activity. Couples out on date night savor platters of spaghettini topped with Zamparelli’s signature marinara sauce. Sports fans take in a Rockies game on the bar’s TV while sipping housemade blood-orangecello ($6) or a glass of Sicilian white. Kids congregate around the ice cream counter, featuring flavors like Nutella from local purveyor Sweet Cow.

This venue, open for five-and-a-half years, has the unmistakable feel of a neighborhood joint that knows how to cater to locals of all ages: Monday-night deals include half-price bottles of wine and free ice cream for the kids. Nancy Zamparelli owns the place with her husband, Jimmy. She works the front of the house while he cooks. Watching children happily finishing dessert, Nancy notes, “We’ve grown up with the families in the neighborhood.”

Make no mistake, though—this isn’t the stock checkered-tablecloth restaurant with candles in Chianti bottles. Its slightly hip but welcoming atmosphere is highlighted by orange and green shades and Italian advertising posters. The menu is traditional and accessible, but distinguished by remarkable attention to detail and emphasis on fresh ingredients. Nancy pegs the Zamparelli’s experience as offering “East Coast Italian heritage with a California attitude.”

The East Coast cred comes from New Jersey–bred Jimmy; the menu features his family’s meatball recipe and his mother’s marinara sauce. Ravioli and gnocchi were other old-school dishes his relatives taught him to prepare. Jimmy attended elementary school in New Jersey with noted Denver Italian restaurant honcho Frank Bonanno. Bonanno is a self-professed fan of Zamparelli’s brick oven–baked pizza, which Nancy describes as “New York–style, with a bit of chew.”

Nancy calls herself a “mutt from Texas,” and her culinary trajectory was inspired by her mother, a gifted self-taught cook. Before it was fashionable, Nancy’s mother crafted family meals from farmers’-market offerings, and made her soufflés and macaroni and cheese from scratch instead of out of a box.

Cooking-school Partners Take Wing

Jimmy and Nancy first crossed paths as students at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y. Thrown together by chance as cooking partners at CIA, they honed their craft in restaurants in Rhode Island and California’s Napa Valley. Nancy credits Wolfgang Puck with personally teaching her how to truly taste ingredients during her stint at Spago.

Given Jimmy’s background, it’s inevitable that Italian-American classics like lasagna ($13), sausage-and-pepper sandwiches ($7.75) and antipasto platters are available here. But you’ll also find less-typical items: numerous gluten-free selections, clam pizza, and dishes such as roasted beet salad ($8, and one of nine salads on the menu) that showcase the best local ingredients. You probably won’t find a poached-pear pizza with caramelized onion, Cambozola cheese and arugula ($15 for a 12-inch size) at your grandparents’ favorite Italian restaurant, but you’ll find it at Zamparelli’s. (There are 19 other pizzas on the menu, ranging in price from $10-$16.)

Zamparelli’s looks to many local farms and food artisans for freshness and quality. The Sweet Cow ice cream comes from Louisville, and cocktails feature ingredients such as Leopold Brothers Colorado Blackberry Whiskey. In summer, there’s plenty of fresh produce from Red Wagon Organic Farm, which has a stand in the parking lot from July 1 through October. The full bar features three or four Colorado brews on tap, in addition to about 20 wines available by the glass ($6-$9) as well as by the bottle.

In-season produce dazzles in appetizers, soups and pizzas. Asparagus risotto balls were recently on the menu as a starter ($7), and the crunchy fried exterior encased a delightful blend of al dente short-grain rice, delicate asparagus and subtly tangy fontina and Parmigiano-Reggiano. A bright pesto aioli reinforced the fresh seasonal flavors with pronounced but not overwhelming herbal flavor.

Another signature dish is the spicy white-bean and sausage pizza. The white-bean spread is shot through with garlic, which gives it a wonderfully earthy quality. The clean, meaty flavor of the sausage artfully contrasts with red pepper, spinach and fontina cheese. The finishing touch is a sparkling-fresh salsa rosa, a peppy uncooked tomato sauce that’s added on top after baking.

In addition to the ice cream, desserts include $4 cannoli imported from New York City, homemade chocolate mousse ($5) and tiramisu ($6). Nancy explains that instead of buying the tiramisu, the Zamparellis prepare their own top-tier version at the restaurant with premium coffee spirits and housemade mascarpone custard. Like so many other menu items, this dessert is a tasty epitome of the bistro’s attention to detail and the owners’ commitment to putting out the best.

When he’s not savoring a delicious meal, freelance writer Hugh Ashmead enjoys riding his cyclocross bike.

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