Risotto House

A well-run neighborhood trattoria   with flavorful food, warm service, and the festive buzz of patrons having a fine time—you’re off to a good start. Add low prices and a BYO policy, and you’ve got a place to embrace, which is what diners in southern Bergen County have been doing since Risotto House opened on Rutherford’s main street in 2005.

There are only 60 seats, but even at its busiest the restaurant runs smoothly. The service team really works as a team and even pulls off simultaneous presentation of dishes, a flourish rarely seen in casual restaurants. Soft lighting, white tablecloths, and salmon-colored walls offset an unattractive acoustic-tile ceiling and a sometimes surging soundtrack of pop crooners. Sicilian-born co-owner Giuseppe Lassoni also runs Trattoria Gelone in Lyndhurst. His chef and co-owner, Luis Tito, who was born in Ecuador, worked for the Bastianich family at their Manhattan restaurants Felidia and Becco before becoming chef at Gelone and now at Risotto House.

The restaurant is true to its name but not limited to that comforting classic. The mammoth menu features a dozen risottos and a similar number of appetizers, salads, veal and chicken dishes, and daily specials. A fresh mushroom-and-pesto appetizer was exemplary. Risottos are hand-stirred and cooked to order, with first-rate Arborio rice and imported Grana Padano, a cheese many chefs prefer for its sweet, nutty graininess to the better known Reggiano Parmesano.

Risottos are priced from $11 to $14 for a hearty portion. (A marvelous seafood risotto is $18.) Pastas are cooked reliably al dente and enhanced by artful sauces. Manicotti and gnocchi are made in-house. The gnocchi—their texture just right, poised between pillowy and firm—are included with some entrees but are worth ordering on their own.

Main courses are big enough to share, and many people eat family-style. Seafood is a strength. An appetizer of plump mussels (or jumbo shrimp) in garlicky marinara sauce is superb. Mild white sea bass is sealed with a crisp potato crust. Jumbo tiger shrimp in garlic and olive oil enliven linguine. Diners ordering chicken, veal, lamb, or strip steak won’t be disappointed, either. Braised lamb shank with mushroom risotto, a recurring special, is so popular it often sells out by 9 pm.

Desserts offer no surprises but no disappointments. Ricotta cheesecake, cream cheese cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake, and cannoli (filled to order) are all fine, but the house-made tiramisu is terrific.