Surf and Turf, Travis-Style

Rocco's Grill

Sunday, noon-9pm (dinner menu only)

www.roccosgrill.com

Lately, Houston real estate mogul Rocco "Rocky" Piazza divides his time between the 150 acres he's developing in Lakeway, the huge Randalls center he's got going across the highway, and his first restaurant venture. After a day's work in the development biz, Rocky dons a chef's outfit (colorful print pants, black chef's coat, and long apron) and works the dining rooms at Rocco's Grill. The restaurant is a lively, inviting space overlooking the hills of Lakeway, festively decorated with Michael Peschka's brightly colored murals and several reproductions of Colombian artist Botero's paintings of plump women. A tall, serpentine bar and open kitchen dominate the main dining room, while the comfortable, shaded patio offers the option of dining alfresco. Though this is Piazza's first restaurant, his Houston relatives represent that city's royal family of Italian restaurateurs: Mandola, Carrabba, D'Amico, and Vallone. Good cooking and hospitality genes apparently run in the family.

Based on our experience, seafood is definitely the way to go at Rocco's. Chefs Mike Powers (formerly of Roy's) and Rob Layo have just the right touch with fish dishes. As an appetizer, try the excellent calamari and shrimp ($8.99), though it's a full plate of delicately battered, tender calamari and only two shrimp. Bella Baci ($8.95) is Rocco's version of the ever-popular local appetizer that features shrimp-stuffed jalapeño peppers wrapped in bacon and kissed by the grill. Here, they're served with a mild, sour cream-based dipping sauce that's a good counterpoint to the salty crunch of the bacon and the heat of the peppers. Both the Trout Traina ($16.95) and the Halibut Alla Griglia ($21) proved to be worthy choices. The trout fillet is rolled in toasted hazelnuts and grilled to flaky perfection. The halibut has a light herbed breadcrumb coating and is topped with sweet crabmeat bathed in a light lemon butter sauce.

If you've saved room for dessert, the Panini di Pistachio ($5.50) offers a crisp chocolate pizelli sandwiched between two scoops of luscious pistachio ice cream from nearby Paradise. The chocolate special on the night we visited was an impressive portion of the voluptuous Miles of Chocolate ($6) paired with whipped cream and a strawberry coulis. While the wine list here isn't extensive, it does offer several Italian-food-friendly choices by the glass for less than $10 and by the bottle for less than $50. Though everyone we encountered was genial and enthusiastic, the service at Rocco's still needs some work. Our young waiter was friendly and eager to please, but unskilled in the finer points of dining service, such as removing extra glassware, napkins, and cutlery from a four-top occupied by two people and serving appetizers before salads. Most of the front-of-the-house staff appeared to be youngsters, perhaps some of them waiting tables for the first time. They obviously need more training before the quality of the service at Rocco's will be on the same level as the quality of the food. Even with that one misstep, we'll be making more trips to Rocco's whether or not we ever go near the lake.