Localvore: Italian flavor sizzles in Burlington

Located on St. Paul St. in downtown Burlington, Trattoria Delia is a haven of rustic warmth and flavor. Beyond the entrance, tucked away and heavy with raw wood and wrought iron, the low-ceilinged Trattoria is packed. Patrons fill the clusters of white-clothed tables, belled stemware clutters the bar and the waiting bench is flush with the hearth by the door, in which a roaring fire burns. The crowd is a heterogeneous mix of couples and families with children, dressed casually but neatly.
What becomes immediately apparent is that at Trattoria Delia, the emphasis is on the rustic beauty of Italian cuisine. The menu is aptly descriptive and various, complete with suggested wine pairings for primi (pasta) and secondi (main course) dishes. The wine selection is truly Italian and offers something for every dish and palate.
Among the antipasti lie the old standbys: bruschetta, salumi e mozzarella, sarpaccio and several well-composed salads.  But between them lie less traditional flavor combinations: order the batù and find yourself assaulted by a delightfully complex arrangement of texture and temperature.  The perfectly tender duck confit — meat so flavorful as to be almost sweet under crisp skin — finds itself perched atop a sharply salty combination of fig and eggplant that perfectly complement the duck. But an even better choice is the lumanche alla sambuca. Ten or so snails rest arrayed atop two thin grilled slices of Italian bread, delightfully sodden with the antipasti’s ultimate triumph: the sauce, a delicate butter lightened by the anise-sweet sambuca and brightened by parsley. This sauce, in conjunction with the tender and distinctly unrubbery snails, makes for a beginning that cannot help but be enjoyed.
If you can resist the specials mouth-wateringly listed off by your server, the primi to try is gnocchi al tartufo. As the menu points out, the gnocchi is freshly made — a fact that becomes obvious upon first taste. The gnocchi themselves are adorably shaped potato confections, balanced between the simple potato and the texture of the dough.  The sauce is another matter entirely: gran padano cheese provides an earthy, rich base to the sweet and upfront sausage, which is finely ground and obviously more a component of the ensemble than its main player. But behind it all lies the warm and unmistakable truffle, dark and sensual on the palate. If the Trattoria’s gnocchi is a party, its truffles haunt the corner, the mysterious stranger stealing the show in a smile.
The signature of the secondi is the filetto al barbera d’alba. The filet is the most tender of medallions, cooked best at medium-rare. Though surrounded by fresh broccoli, roasted potatoes and sweet carrots, the meat needs no accoutrement more than its almost overwhelmingly rich barbera wine sauce — sharp in flavor and smooth on the tongue. It is a well-chosen accompaniment to the straightforward flavor of the meat.  The meal is crowned with a demi glace of herbs and white truffle butter, melting in the mouth and cutting the sharpness of the barbera into a soft, warm finish of flavor.
The only complaint to be made of Trattoria Delia is the slowness in service; while the food is always brought hot, the servers seem slow to take orders, though dutiful in attendance once the food is served. An unforgettable strength of the restaurant is the complimentary table bread, fresh and chewy, served with butter herbed with thyme and rosemary. The portions are generous but never overwhelming, and the atmosphere cozy if crowded.
Trattoria Delia is open daily from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.