Review: Naples

Our introduction to Knoxville's restaurant scene came a few days ago at Naples, a cute Italian restaurant I'd describe as "family-friendly": checkered tablecloths, plenty of Ecco Domani, and vast shelves of squishy bread loaded with garlic butter. Naples provides that homely fare, but also had a bit of a daring side.

We started with the baked brie, served with a (supposedly) apricot chutney that appeared to actually be made from raspberries and deep-fried pita chips (welcome to the South!). The pita overwhelmed the brie, but the chutney was a nice complement. The brie itself didn't seem to be especially well-aged, and was a touch blander than I like.

Melanie got the Lasagna, which was colossal, and had a slightly sweet sauce, both of which reminded us both of a lot of the similar Italian food back home in Nebraska. It was loaded with ground beef and cheese, and definitely made up in chutzpah what it lacked in refinement.

I ordered the ravioli special, which changes frequently. That night it was crab meat ravioli with spinach pasta in a tremendously rich mascarpone rose sauce. They didn't scrimp on the crab, and the richness of the sauce didn't interfere with the flavor coming through.

The bottled wine list was impressive, although by-the-glass was a bit short. They only had one Italian beer, predictably Moretti.