Via Matta   

Every city needs a place that is just as suitable for a family dinner as it is for an anticipated date. It helps immensely if the food is outstanding in its elegant simplicity and the wait staff is attentive yet laid back and passionate about the food and wine they present. Welcome to Via Matta, the stylish Italian outpost within Michael Schlow's dining empire. (The other eateries the chef/cookbook author heads up with ace restaurateurs Esti Parsons and Christopher Myers are Radius and Great Bay.) The word here is Italy. Not red sauce heaviness, but elegant, artfully prepared, completely unadorned cuisine with quality natural ingredients. The crunchiest, ripest vegetables and the highest quality meats, wines, and cheeses are presented in their own, flavorful glory for the diner to discover. The menu allows a delicate balance of flavors to shine through, resulting in nurturing food faithful to the traditions of Italian kitchens. The menu changes seasonally, but at its core are dishes like shaved mushroom salad with arugula, grana padanbo and truffle oil; local halibut with saffron, potatoes and kalamata olives; and Flat Iron steak with faro, cherry tomatoes and horseradish gramolata. Authentic Italian food is notable, but it's so much more indulgent in a sublimely classy dining room. Like the food, Via Matta's dining room is tastefully spare: it isn't slathered with decoration. Its walls display a handful of intriguing paintings. The chic blend of wood, metal and iron furniture flanked with a marble bar and glass paneling evoke a stylish Milan trattoria. Tucked in each napkin is a sprig of herb and candlelight cast over the tables. The mood is quiet but romantic, and most tables are occupied by couples on a date or families and coworkers marking special occasions. Via Matta makes good on the promise to bring a new vision of Italian to Boston.