Pendolino is Chastain’s New-ish Neighborhood Spot

Restaurant industry veteran Kevin Maxey carries quite the resume for having selected a “neighborhood” at the juncture of Buckhead meeting Sandy Springs.

Maxey counts his experience at Tom Collicchio’s Gramercy Tavern and Craft (wasn’t there a Craft attempt here on Peachtree east of the Waldorf?), as well as the Ford Fry group locally. Here, his Pendolino is “white walled casual” with an air of sophistication, maybe because of the marble floor, and attention to detail, fresh flowers, and lighting. The flowing curtains lend a coastal feel with green tile and darker mill work. The booth upholstery is lush in light mossy olive green in vertical panels back-to-back in the dining room.

Speaking of olives, Pendolino relates to the manually cultivated old Italian tree variety with swooping pendulous branches and high fruit production. Its olives can be used for black or green table olives, and to make mild to fruity olive oil. (Pendolino is also an Italian high-speed train which is noted, but not related.)

The first appetizer on the menu is Marinated Olives in citrus and pecorino cheese ($9). Our table ordered the eggplant marinara ($14) with buffalo ricotta, focaccia, and mint, though ours was topped with basil leaves; and the server explained that the mint was in the sauce. There are four other appetizers including cheesy garlic bread. Our cocktails ($14) began with Sparkling Lambrusco Emila Romagna Lini 910 Rose NY and a Mama Mia citrus vodka, prosecco, grapefruit soda combo.

The next intriguing course is Pizette, petite pizzas in three varieties — all puffy, cheesy and crispy from the wood-fired oven. We went with asparagus on preserved lemon, though the current menu lists the vegetarian option as Bianca with garlic crema, spinach, and mushroom also with the intense lemon which makes the dish sing.

Next is a handful of creative salads, small plates and sides. Our best dish was the pink snapper crudo ($17) with citrus, sea fennel, pine nuts. For “foodies” who get into the weeds, sea fennel is also known as rock sapphire, an edible wild coastal plant grown in Micronesia, Europe, Africa, and Asia, sometimes pickled or made hot and spicy, but not in this case. The little gems Caesar salad was crunchy and fresh, but without much bite of promised anchovy, then topped with homemade croutons. An interesting future choice would be the burrata wood-roasted carrots in pistachio pesto ($15). The house salad features oregano vinaigrette and ricotta.

For the entrée, the roasted halibut ($35) on lima beans and crispy artichoke was thick and fleshy and was just as good the next day as leftovers. A more current menu features swordfish steak puttanesca with garlic confit and sweet peppers. For those sheltered waifs, “puttanesca” is Italian for “a naughty lady of the evening,” literally translated as “stinking.” Another alluring vegetarian option would be ricotta ravilo with roasted zucchini, basil, and parmigiano.

Ending on a dolci sweet note, the tiramisu is a safe, not very daring, bet ($8). Two other options: Meyer lemon cake with vanilla ganache, and Spumoni semi frido with pistachio and morello cherry. Again, for a finer point, tiramisu means “cheer me up.”

Pendolino scores points for well-paced service. A manager is visible stopping at tables to get feedback. She was able to answer menu and ingredient questions and knew when to get out of the way. Our server was attentive and got “the goods” out quickly enough and paced the courses.

To enhance the European feel, Pendolino’s patio was under cheery umbrellas with light wood barrel-shaped chairs, director’s chairs, and more rattan chairs under an awning adjacent to the building, all serving a youngish jovial crowd of 50, where the other 119 were seated indoors. The indoor bar with fresh flowers is vertical and lined up alongside the banquettes.

We are always happy with free drive-up parking with very little walk.
Pendolino is located at 4600 Roswell Road, close to the recently closed Sprouts, soon to be Trader Joe’s. 404-937-3057.