PHOTO: B.A. Nilsson

Heading North and Points Beyond

Cella Bistro

2015 Rosa Road, Schenectady, 381-2080. Serving dinner Tue-Sat 5-9. AE, MC, V.

Cuisine: thoughtfully continental

Entrée price range: $15 (gemelli with asparagus and mushrooms) to $27 (duck two ways)

Ambiance: comfortable

By B.A. Nilsson

Cella Bistro is the newly opened successor to Perrino’s, which opened on a corner of Schenectady’s Rosa Road in 1973. But where Perrino’s was a red-sauce joint, Cella Bistro offers something more Northern Italian, if not downright gourmet. And the cuisine goes beyond that, with tapas served in the bar and entrées that show an international flair.

The menu is strategically designed to give a variety of entry points to the entrées and such. Soup and salad is $6 to $7; generous-sized appetizers plates average $9. Pasta dinners are priced in the teens, while other entrées push into the 20s.

There’s an old-fashioned-looking bar, expansive and welcoming; on the other side of a low divider are some bar tables. A nearby blackboard lists tapas items, available in that room and an excellent way to make a meal out of a drink’s visit. Past a wine rack and through a doorway is the main dining room. A practical divider holds olive oil (for bread dipping) and pepper mills, among other decorative items; the brick wall in which the doorway is framed sports an attractive array of candles.

A family birthday party was taking place in another, smaller room off to the side, virtually unobtrusive; our dinner, with a handful of other tables filling around us, was quiet and restful.

Arriving in advance of my family, I settled in with a glass of sparkling wine and learned, to my initial disappointment, that the tapas, listed in the bar area, aren’t served in the dining room. The list changes daily; when I was there, three dollars would buy some cheese samples, a Spanish tortilla, or beef braciole, among other items; for five bucks, stuffed mushrooms or a mixed seafood-sausage grill were representative items.

I wanted a $2 dish of spiced olives. “I can do that for you,” a server said, and so she did. And it was just what I needed to wake up the palate—with crisped rosemary and a dusting of seasonings adding a lively flavor.

With my fellow explorers in place, we charted a three-course meal that began with selections from the appetizers list. I like the idea of eponymous eating, so the escargot O’Sullivan ($9), named for a regular customer, caught my eye—and my olfactory sense, too, when the dish arrived, with puff pastry shells slowly moistening in a garlicky demi-glace. With white wine and leeks broadening the flavor, you could almost forget that snails are at the heart of the dish. But those squishy little monsters had a delicious vehicle for their delivery.

Spring rolls are ever-more-common menu visitors these days, but the Cella version ($6) puts artichoke hearts and goat cheese into the wrappers, a very compelling combo. Other apps include filet mignon carpaccio ($11), baby back ribs ($9) and a fried calamari ($8) that chef Michael learned on a recent trip to Italy.

Four different salads include additions of fruit, nuts and cheese in varying combinations; roasted beets, walnuts and cheese ($7) are a tasty trio found in many a recipe; in this case it’s goat cheese, with a bed of arugula.

We shared an order of pappardelle ($17)—homemade pasta, wide as lasagna, with a delicious bolognese. The sauce is as tricky as it’s traditional, a confluence of different meats finished with cream, making the journey from one flavor to the next with careful seasoning—all of which was in place here.

In the entrée realm, a classic steak frites ($26) caught my fancy. It’s a big slab of ribeye smothered in fries, but this cut is more than that: It’s more flavorful than a filet, and once it takes its trip across the grill, cooked rare, it’s a sensual experience. The potatoes are a bonus: in this case, a generous heap of hand-cut fries. What’s best is when they’re aggressively crisp, which they weren’t, and which is a sign of oil that’s not hot enough.

If there’s an inviting-sounding chicken dish available, my wife is guaranteed to order it. But even I, my palate dulled by too many at-home chicken dinners, was delighted with the roasted (under a brick) free-range half bird ($19), moist and tasty and served with a light pan gravy, with a side of savory bread pudding.

Duck confit, where the dark meat is pressed in its own fat, is a marvel—the basis of cassoulet, for instance. Cella presents it as half of the duck two ways ($27), the other way a seared breast served with a cherry-laced port sauce. Goat cheese made its third appearance in our dinner as part—a hidden part, fun to discover—of the mashed potatoes.

Chef Michael put in quality time at other area restaurants, most notably at Troy’s Allegro Café; here he’s able to flex his muscles or spread his wings, depending upon how you regard creative freedom, and craft a changing menu that honors the season with its use of fresh ingredients.

His parents, Jim and Cheryl, and his wife, Julia, also are principals in the place; Julia kept a keen eye on the commendable service even as she wrestled with computer problems during our visit. There’s nothing like a dedicated family to give a warm feeling to a restaurant, and dining at Cella Bistro has that vital but elusive sense of being at home.

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