Home cooking, Italian Style

A chef tosses pizza dough. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/China Daily]

The Rustica-Parma truffle pizza (99 yuan)－said to be the most frequently ordered dish from the kitchen－features long, crinkled slices of Parma ham with white-truffle sauce and mozzarella cheese. But because I dug into the Peking duck pizza first, the strong taste of the duck meat lingered on my palate, keeping me from getting a full appreciation of the lighter truffle pizza.

The Segafredo tiramisu (39 yuan) is highly rated by diners from the major online food communities, such as Dianping.com. My palate was flooded with silky cream after a bite of it, and I could hardly feel the cake layer. The dessert consists of Italian mascarpone cheese, crumbled cookie, Segafredo espresso and sweet coffee liqueur, but surprisingly it is not sweet and cloying. Manager Katie Li says there are no shaping additives, such as gelatin, which explains the dessert's loose form.

High ceilings and exterior windows highlight the airy design, which features wood panels and gray concrete.

Comfortable dim light and candles on each table make for a cozy and intimate dining experience in the evening. Its location right at the north entrance of the Indigo shopping mall isolates the Italian diner from the hustle and bustle of the shopping frenzy nearby.

"My sister is married to a guy who came from an Italian family of cooks, and we picked up the traditional Italian home-cooking methods from him," says Sun Yuan, the owner of Tiago.

The restaurant's decor is dominated by a back wall of wooden shelves, filled with all sorts of popular Italian ingredients, including olive oil and truffle sauce, used to prepare food on Tiago's menu.

"More than 80 percent of our ingredients come from abroad, and customers can see what their food is made of in plain sight," says Sun.

They can also purchase imported ingredients to cook at home.

"Instead of delving into innovations in cooking, we place our focus on well-balanced nutrition and follow the Italian home-cooking methods by the book," says Sun, who intends to open another two branches, including one in February in Joy City at Chaoyang North Road in Chaoyang district.

"I decided to go into the Italian food business because I think Chinese and Italian cuisines have a lot in common. Both have rice and noodles. Also, the Americans have helped popularize Italian foods in China, such as pasta and pizzas," says Sun.

The newly opened Jiangtai station of Beijing's subway line 14 is right in front of the mall, making it easier now to get there from anywhere in the city. Look out for an outdoor beer garden this spring.

If you go

Tiago

10 am -10 pm daily; 1/F, Indigo shopping mall, 18 Jiuxianqiao road, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-64388772