Adriano’s Bistro | Dillon

So the first thing I notice at Adriano’s Bistro is the rules. Posted on a chalkboard at the door: no gluten-free options (you are referred to a neighboring eatery). The menu spells things out further: no separate checks, a split-plate fee. Just when I’m expecting to get some Italian tough love, a sweet-faced twentysomething kid introduces himself.

Adriano Ottoborgo grew up on his grandfather’s ranch in Corciano, 30 miles north of Venice. His family made its way to Colorado and landed in Dillon by way of Berthoud Falls, keeping dual citizenship. Adriano wanted to go to culinary arts school, but his father, Ivano, told him to work in a few restaurants first. They split the difference and opened Adriano’s. Adriano lives with his folks downstairs; their commute is 14 steps. Ivano hunkers down in the kitchen, preparing recipes that sample from the different regions of Italy; Adriano serves as sous chef.

The restaurant opened in 2010, doing 30 dinners a night and running an old-school Italian deli with housemade pasta, cheeses, cured meats—they even made their own wine out back. When they got tired of people asking for Boar’s Head, they traded the deli for a fine dining experience, but soon retired the white tablecloths and hit the mark with the current family-style atmosphere.

The menu is different with each visit, limited to five main courses; all meals come with a small appetizer, soup and salad. The former was minimeatballs served in a creamy demi-glace—Sicilian-style, different from the six other styles of Italian meatballs, according to Ivano.

I tried the Linguine Fresco with fresh tomatoes and basil in a red sauce, adding fresh homemade sausage (chicken or shrimp are also available). But I was most impressed with my wife’s Melanzane Rolentine. Eggplant is tricky—not cooked properly, it can be slick or bitter. But this dish— “The way my father got us to eat it when we were kids,” Adriano noted—reflected a creative approach of herb-marinated eggplant, rolled and stuffed with ricotta and parmesan cheeses and topped with both marinara and béchamel sauce, served on baked ziti. I vowed to return for the wood-fired pizza, which comes in a menu’s worth of choices. We washed down our meal with a bottle of Zonin Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Adriano creates the desserts, and he’s proudest of his Tiramisu, which he doesn’t make with ladyfingers—it’s a simple yellow cake with custard, chocolate and mascarpone layers, chocolate shavings and a liqueur blend drizzled over the top.

The young waitstaff was more casual than cameriere, as befits a mountain town. But the bottom line was delicious food and rustic charm. I should have known—the rules are never wrong.

250 Lake Dillon Dr., Dillon.; 970-468-6111;
adrianosbistrodillon.com

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