Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 27, 1992 TAG: 9203270219
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOLORES KOSTELNI
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
New owner Rance E. Marianetti has provided the leadership for transformations in decor, service, food and attitude. At last, this restaurant seems headed in the right direction, with a master plan that places the patron's needs at the top of the list.
Russell Kidd, the maitre d' at La Maison for seven years, told me about Marianetti's restaurant experience. The new owner worked for several years in various capacities for an Alexandria restaurant chain before he opening his own restaurant, Marianetti's, at the Best Western in Daleville. He bought the La Maison property near the Roanoke Regional Airport in May 1990.
The present staff is enthusiastic. The profusion of golden daffodils in the gardens around the stately Georgian house were planted last fall by some of the staff.
One of the waitresses told me they look forward to starting on the vegetable and herb gardens when warm weather arrives. Harvests are incorporated into various dishes by the new chef, Tom Hammelman, who came from the Grand Hotel in Washington.
Last summer's super-producing zucchini crop gave rise to a giveaway for patrons: Everyone is given a breakfast muffin packed to take home. It proved to be so popular the restaurant continued it during the winter using rum-raisin muffins.
Dinner in these cozily elegant dining rooms is engaging. Pleasantly light pastel paper adorns the walls with sheer, lacy drapes dressing the windows. These replace the somber colors, heavy drapes and pervasive musty odors that were so typical during the few years before Marianetti's ownership.
Professional and informative service prevails, and someone is always within motioning distance if you need attention. No longer do wait persons swoop from table to table in officious grandeur, chatting without purpose while looking but not seeing.
For the most part, La Maison provides some dependable meals. Lunch dishes deliver good dollar value. Neatly made sandwiches ($4.25-$5.50) burst with layers of fresh, attractive fillings, and salads ($3.95-$7.25) exhibit exceptional quality.
A flavorful and texture-rich seafood salad ($6.75) of crab meat and shrimp with pasta, onion and green pepper bound with a great amount of tasty, creamy dressing filled a dinner-size plate. Flaming spinach salad ($5.95), deftly prepared before your eyes, combines tender and perfectly grit-free spinach leaves with fried bacon pieces, chopped eggs and mushrooms in a subtly sweet honey-based dressing.
The only lunch dish I wish I hadn't ordered was the chef's special one afternoon: Cajun steak with fried new potatoes and mixed vegetables ($4.95). Excluding the bright, crisply cooked vegetable medley, which I enjoyed, the steak and potatoes were greasy and as dark as coal. I also expected the potato chunks to be more brittle; these were disappointingly mushy.
To get your taste buds going for dinner, the house serves its giveaway of cheese cubes with a loaf of warm, though insipid, bread and a tasteless, greasy yellow ball of a margarine-type spread.
An appetizer dubbed seafood sausage ($3.95) proved vexing to my taste buds because it had no real flavor, just whatever taste the smears of an accompanying brandy mayonnaise gave it.
Best bets for starters are any of the salads, and I recommend the delightfully garlicky Caesar salad ($4.95). Its eggless, creamy dressing enrobes the well-cut, crunchy and soft romaine lettuce.
The chef's special, gently sauced marlin accompanied by generous portions of bright green, tender asparagus spears, diagonally cut fresh carrots and rice pilaf ($18.95) proved delicious.
A trio of baby lamb chops ($17.95) done to medium, were juicy, tender and succulent. They don't come better. One of the classic, old reliables, peppercorn steak ($16.95), packed plenty of flavor, too.
Desserts ($2.50) are just what you might expect, and all but the cheesecake are made there. Although I tasted both carrot cake and coconut cake, neither was notable because they lacked characteristic and discernable flavors.
Under Marianetti's guidance, La Maison du Gourmet is developing nicely, although a great deal remains to be refined and redone. Many of the chairs are uncomfortably rump-sprung, and the restroom lacks a fan.
As for food, I feel it should stick with the limited menu it has: These are dishes of enduring appeal. La Maison can do these remarkably well. I have great faith in Marianetti's abilities as he expresses them through ongoing, gradual and thoughtful changes.
LA MAISON DU GOURMET\ 5732 Airport Road 366-2444\ \ HOURS: Lunch, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; dinner, Monday-Friday, 5-10 p.m.; Saturday, 5-12 p.m.\ BEVERAGES: Full-service bar.\ PRICE RANGE: Lunch, $4-$9; dinner, $9.95-$52.95.\ CREDIT CARDS: Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Carte Blanch, Discover, American\ Express\ RESERVATIONS? Highly recommended.\ NON-SMOKING SECTION? Yes\ HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE? partially: no parking spaces, ramp needs upgrading. Accessibility efforts under way. Dining Out's evaluations of restaurant accessibility to the handicapped are conducted by the Center for Independence for the Disabled, a non-profit organization.
Dolores Kostelni has extensive experience in the food industry, having worked as a restaurant consultant, manager and chef.
by CNB