Story and photos by Scott Kendall
North Italian Restaurant Featuring Authentic Cuisine
Fresh Ingredients With Pizza and Pasta Made Daily
We started with the delicious White Truffle Garlic Bread. This popular appetizer consists of house made ricotta, mozzarella, grana padano, and fresh herbs. Other appetizers include the Burrata di Station, with fuji apple, roasted butternut squash, toasted hazelnut, herb breadcrumb, and calabrian agrodolce and the Crispy Calamari.
North Italia is proud of their made from scratch pizzas. The Margherita and the Spicy Meatball Pizza were both hits with our group. The crust was light and crispy, with fresh herbs and toppings. Other favorite pizzas on the menu include The Pig, with spicy pepperoni, soppressata, and Italian Sausage, and the Cacio E Pepe with pecorino crema, mozzarella, and cracked pepper.
One member of our party loved her Chicken Parmesan, a lightly breaded chicken breast with crushed tomato, aged provolone, mozzarella, and parmesan rigatoni. Other entrees that caught my eye include the Diver Scallops, Braised Short Ribs, Roasted Salmon, and the Beef Tenderloin Marsala.
Brunch, Lunch and Dinner at North Italia
There are so many good looking items on the menu that I want to try next time we go. The Chef’s Board looks tempting, with prosciutto di parma, spicy coppa, pecorino stagionato, crescenza, house giardiniera, castelvetrano olive, marcona almond, fig mostarda, and grilled bread. Just add your favorite wine!
My mouth was salivating when the waiter brought the Beef Tenderloin Marsala to our neighboring table. The smell and the look of this dish was outstanding, and may well be on my order next time we visit. The Butternut Squash Anolini also looks fantastic, with broccolini, arugula, hazelnut crumble, grana padano, and espelette.
Also note that North Italia serves a weekend Brunch, with many tempting breakfast dishes added to the menu. Selections include The Breakfast Sandwich, made with rosemary ham, Italian sausage, crispy bacon, egg, roasted pepper, cipollini onion, smoked mozzarella, and calabrian aioli. Now, that’s a sandwich! Another great looking breakfast item is the Smoked Salmon Avocado Toast with caper relish, watermelon radish, toasted pine nut, torn basil, pickled red onion, and fresh horseradish.
Wine, Cocktails, and Beer
North Italia has a good selection of wines, available by the glass, the terzo (one third of a bottle), or by the bottle. I enjoyed a nice Italian Vermentino, a Gianni Gagliardo “Fallegro”, Langhe from Piedmont. My daughter-in-law loved her Barbera Marchesi Di Gresy, Asti, also from the Piedmont region of Italy.
The cocktail menu is varied and creative. If gin is your thing, you may want to try the Barberini Smash, a concoction of Hendrick’s gin, Italian elderflower, ginger, carpano honey, lemon, and islay. Or try a twist on the traditional aperol spritz with their New Italian Spritz, with citrus smash mixed with the aperol and prosecco. Another popular cocktail at North Italia is the Venice Vidi Vici, made with Iwai Japanese whisky, Montenegro amaro, limoncello, orange, and fresh lemon.
For beer lovers, North Italia offers a limited selection of domestic and foreign beers. In addition to some local craft brews like Karbach’s popular Lovestreet Blonde, choices include Peroni Lager from Italy and Modelo Especial from Mexico.
Take Your Taste Buds on a Trip to North Italia
North Italia in The Woodlands is a welcome addition to the local restaurant scene. As expected, the new staff is still working out some minor kinks for service and food prep, but seem on the right track. Try North Italia for its varied menu, nice cocktail and wine lists, friendly staff, and the casual but elegant ambience. You’ll feel welcome at this delightful slice of Itay.
Come try North Italia for yourself.
