Last night was my first dinner of Newport Restaurant Week-as you may know I am the official restaurant blogger for the Newport County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. If you followed my culinary journey last November you know I have the fabulous task to dine at a random selection of restaurants participating in the 10 day celebration. With lunch at $16 for three courses and dinner at $30 for three courses this is an amazing deal-and the restaurants from the look of the menus are offering wonderful choices (you can see all the restaurants and menus at www.GoNewportRestaurantWeek.com).

Mamma Luisa’s is one of my favorite restaurants in town and when I found out they decided to participate this spring I made it a point to be the first to dine. This special restaurant on Lower Thames could be in the middle of Rome or Venice. It is actually from Bologna where Marco-the affable owner of Mamma Luisa’s mother had a restaurant and when he came to Newport he made a conscious decision to be away from the crowds-it’s appeal to me is that I could be anywhere-Little Italy in Manhattan or a small town in Bologna.

But back to the food-there are two choices of appetizers-a Carpaccio Di Tonno (peppercorn crusted tuna with Salsa Verde) or my absolute favorite the Bombette Pomodoro e Rucola. If you have ever had homemade gnocchi this is where you will find the best in town. Little pillows of ricotta and spinach that melt in your mouth are lightly sauced with their family’s amazing marinara sauce-need I say more? I am sure the tuna is superb but I had to have the gnocchi.

Two choices of entrees included Salmone all’ Arancia-a skinless fillet of salmon with orange, basil beurre blanc-as lovely as that sounds I had to go for the lamb. An extraordinary preparation I would never have considered. The rib lamb chops are pounded as one would for Veal Milanese-on the bone and breaded-sautéed lightly served with lemon and a zesty mint sauce for dipping; a squeeze of lemon-my new favorite. I hope they keep it on the regular menu-it was that much of a hit with me!

Dolci-Italian for dessert-included three choices-their profiterol coated in chocolate, homemade tiramisu and a fig gelato. If you love figs you have to try the gelato-creamy and full of flavor the amaretto biscotti and cappuccino made me very happy. Marco also adds three wines by the glass appropriate for any of the choices.

I asked veteran waitress Michele Dubac how the first weekend had gone-as weekends at Mamma Luisa’s are always busy. “We’ve seen some new faces which is very nice” she told me. The quintessential answer as this is what Newport Restaurant Week is all about! Mamma Luisa’s is open nightly with the exception of Wednesday and do make reservations-those fifty seats fill up fast!