Er Coscio d’Abbachio is one of many long-time favorites on the Amoroma menu, with the slow-roasted lamb shank complemented by a red wine sauce and vegetables. And Amoroma of course has plenty of pasta options to go along with an Italian/Californian wine list and a full bar.
“We were looking for a place,” said Hafiz Haidari about a fall day in 2003. “I had never been to Moraga before, and it was a gloomy, dark, rainy day. The space was not in good shape. I told my partners this wasn’t going to work.”
But long-time Orinda resident Jack Flanagan – who passed away last August – convinced Haidari that he could turn the former French spot, Chez Maurice, into the restaurant he wanted to run.
Twenty-three years later, Amoroma is a Lamorinda tradition. Haidari and Chef Alfonzo Gonzalez have been there all along, making pasta from scratch every day and building a devoted clientele.
“We probably know 60 to 70% of customers by their first name,” said Haidari, and they return again and again for the familiar menu.
“In 2008, we introduced a new menu,” he said, “but we got mixed feedback” – so the dishes that the first Amoroma diners saw on the menu in 2003 are almost all available today.
OK, there have been a couple shifts, and there are weekly ravioli and gnocchi specials, but the Roman-inspired Italian cuisine is firmly entrenched in Amoroma’s Moraga DNA.
“In Rome, most dishes are seafood-based,” said Haidari, and though there are tomato sauces, they aren’t as ubiquitous as they are in restaurants focusing on southern Italian flavors.
And that seafood? It comes from the Monterey Fish Company, the same supplier Haidari started with back in 2003, which fits with the tried-and-true basis of Amoroma.
So not surprisingly, one of the most popular dishes is La Bavette coli Frutti di Mare, but regulars also favor La Farfalette di Villa Borghese and often start the meal with a pear salad.
An appetizer favorite is La Suppri di Telefono, which stretches the traditional Italian deep-fried risotto, mozzarella and bread crumbs into long strings that resemble telephone lines.
Naturally, the desserts are made in house as well, and even the cocktails feature freshly squeezed fruits. And the wine list only features California and Italian wines, once again combining traditional Italian and modern Northern California on the menu.
It’s no surprise that the bar has a clear focus, as Haidari was a bartender at Walnut Creek’s Il Fornaio before coming to Moraga.
And he’s also made it easy to sample Amoroma’s wine list and menu during its Monday through Friday Happy Hours, but Haidari and Amoroma already have a faithful following that has been nurtured over the past quarter-century.
And even rainy days can’t keep them away.
