Cordova and Bartlett add new Italian restaurants to offerings.

by HANNAH SAYLE

The Italian restaurant Pasta Italia started in Biloxi, Mississippi, moved to Collierville after Hurricane Katrina, and spent a year-long stint in Chattanooga. Now, owners Michele Doto and Laura Derrick are bringing their restaurant back to the area, this time to Cordova near Germantown Parkway and Macon Road.

Owned by Italian transplants — Doto is from Modena, Derrick is from Venice — Pasta Italia serves what the owners call authentic Northern Italian.

"We try to bring everything from Italy and do an authentic Northern Italian cuisine," Doto says. "We import most of the cold cuts, cheeses, extra virgin olive oils, and specialty items directly from Italy."

Pasta Italia is set to open in Cordova sometime in mid-February, and fans from the restaurant's days on the Collierville Town Square will find the menu little changed, except for a few new items Chef Doto has up his sleeve.

Diners can expect homemade pasta: ravioli, baked pastas, and rosette di pasta, sheets of pasta layered with prosciutto, mascarpone, fontina, and bechamel and rolled into the shape of a rose. The menu also features Italian favorites like veal shank osso bucco, lesser-known items like baked rock salt red snapper, and traditional desserts such as tiramisu.

Pasta Italia will have a full wine list with primarily Italian wines and will be open Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Lunch will be served Wednesday and Thursday only, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A lunch special is served for around $12. Dinner entrées range from $18 to $28.

Pasta Italia, 8130 Macon Station, Cordova (751-0009)