At Novo Cucina Briarcliff, good things come to neighborhoods that wait

The new Novo Cucina at the intersection of Briarcliff and Clairmont roads has a funny relationship with time.

The restaurant, a second location of the long-running and popular Italian establishment in Dunwoody, opened in mid-May in a brand new, stand-alone building at the Lumen Briarcliff development. Before that, it hung a banner that read “Coming summer 2025″ on the structure for about a year, nearly six months beyond its own self-imposed deadline.

Now that the new Novo Cucina is up and running, it makes a strong case that the wait has been worth it, even if their sense of timing is still slightly off.

The menu is large but not overwhelming, with a nice selection of salads and pizzas for more casual meals, along with some impressive plates of pasta and entrees that befit a date night or special occasion. Novo Cucina’s kitchen is also flexible and allergy-friendly, offering plenty of vegetarian options and gluten-free bread, pasta and pizza, much of it made in-house, according to Ullio. Plus, they serve a great steak that also happens to be a killer value.

It’s rare that a new restaurant opens in a custom-designed space built from scratch; even restaurants in new buildings often fill predetermined boxes where much of the initial design is controlled by the developer. Novo Cucina has taken full advantage of the process, creating a jewel box that offers a variety of different dining experiences in an attractive setting.

Customers can park in the development’s free parking deck or take advantage of the complimentary valet. The host stand sits a few feet from a gelato case, giving diners a preview of their potential dessert, while also allowing neighbors to pop in for a quick treat without winding their way through the whole restaurant.

The gelato case is built into the main bar, which anchors the downstairs dining room. It’s easy to imagine frustrated commuters opting out of the bumper-to-bumper traffic on Clairmont Road to grab an Italian-accented cocktail or glass of wine in a bright, cheerful setting.

The rest of the main dining room hits all the important marks: The seating is comfortable and the lighting is warm, with strategically placed spotlights over each table making it easy to read the menu.

The volume can get a little loud and, for now, the large downstairs windows offer only a view of the dilapidated former Popeye’s across the street. But those issues should be mitigated once the restaurant installs curtains — the kind of gauzy, translucent window treatments that Ullio said will dampen the noise and soften the passing LED headlights.

The staff at the new Novo Cucina is mostly new, Ullio said, and their inexperience sometimes shows in the pace and timing of the meal. Diners should plan to take an active role in their dinner service.

Servers use a handheld system to key in orders, and they often hover silently at the table for an awkward period of time as they punch in each diner’s choices. Meanwhile, the kitchen seems to pump out dishes within seconds of an order being placed. Those who want to luxuriate over appetizers and cocktails should wait to order their main courses until they’re truly ready.

I suggested to Ullio that both issues could easily be mitigated by a simple change: Have the servers write down each diner’s order, then key it in after leaving the table. The experienced restaurateur disagreed — the extra step might introduce more errors into their service, Ullio said, and he would always rather have the kitchen work too fast than too slow.

“A few people might complain if the dishes come too fast,” Ullio said, “But everyone complains if they come out too slow.”

Ullio expects the servers to improve their speed and meal pacing as they gain experience, and he hopes to have many repeat customers who will learn to order with their own rhythm.

Many of the dishes at Novo Cucina are straightforward and classic, technically well-executed but sometimes lacking pizzazz. The beef carpaccio is textbook: Slices of beef are pounded incredibly thin and dressed simply with salt, lemon, olive oil, capers, arugula and long peels of Parmigiano Reggiano. There was nothing to criticize, yet it lacked spark.

The Caesar salad, the calamari fritti and the arancini felt the same — well-made, reliable and uncomplicated. The salmon entree was one of the only dishes that felt truly disappointing; the brightly colored, perfectly cooked filet contrasted dramatically with its bed of black rice, but the under-seasoned salmon’s flavor could not match its visual appeal.

Novo Cucina’s pizza and pasta selections bring more excitement to the table. The robiola e pesto pizza is beautifully balanced, with smooth goat cheese and sharp pesto playing off one another without weighing down the impressively thin, crisp crust. Novo Cucina’s house-made pizza dough works especially well with its lighter pizzas; the capricciosa, a heavier option with its combination of cotto ham, salami, artichokes, olives and mozzarella, weighed down the crust a little but made up the difference with its deeply satisfying hits of salt and spice.

Several of the pasta options are impressive, too. Linguine del pescatore was generously bedecked with mussels, clams, shrimp and squid, paired with a bright sauce that brings some heat from Calabrese peppers. Lasagnette alla Bolognese was like an unstructured version of lasagna, but delivered the same indulgent pleasure.

A stuffed pasta called cappellacci stood out the most; its relatively light filling of ricotta, prosciutto and spinach was ballasted by a beautiful brown butter and sage sauce. A cousin to tortellini, cappellacci can be loosely translated to “big hats,” a reference to its round, upright shape that’s easy to see on the plate.

Among Novo Cucina’s secondi options, the menu’s most expensive item might also be the best value. The tagliata di manzo is a generously proportioned, 100% grass-fed rib-eye steak from Joyce Farms for $58, which feels like a bargain in today’s landscape of triple-digit steak prices. It’s also the perfect canvas for the kitchen’s light touch, which highlights the beautiful, relatively lean beef’s quality.