Chef Lucien Boulanger removes a pizza from the restaurant's brick oven. FRATELLO'S RISTORANTE ITALIANO 155 Dow St., Manchester 624-2022; fratellos.com/manchester.htm Serving: Dinner: Seven days from 4 p.m. Lunch: Seven Days 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Cuisine: Italian Prices: $$ Price guide: $ Entrees average $10 or less $$ Entrees average $11-$20 $$$ Entrees average $21-$30 $$$$ Entrees average $30 or more Rating: * * * Ratings guide: * Not recommended * * Good. Recommended * * * Excellent. Highly recommended * * * * Flawless. A must Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town.

Fratello's reminds me of my best friend, who is the aunt to a niece and several nephews. Other family members know that, having no children of her own, she will always be there for them.

She never misses a birthday or special occasion, she attends her niece’s and nephews’ sporting events and she can be counted on for the occasional babysitting duty when an emergency arises.

In other words she is reliable, well loved and no matter what the occasion, she rises to it.

That’s similar to the way I feel about Fratello’s. It’s reliable — we can count on a pleasant experience no matter when we go. And it’s well loved — ever since the first time we went when our son was very young and would only eat pasta, it has been a favorite of our family. At the time he HATED dining out, but he would go to Fratello’s without complaint.

So on a recent trip there we weren’t surprised to be, well, not surprised. It was just as good as always.

If you haven’t been there, the menu covers everything to antipasti to zuppe. (Actually it’s antipasti to dessert, but that would ruin that whole “A to Z” thing I’m trying for here.)

My starter was the carpaccio ($7.99). Here’s how its preparation is described by Arrigo Cipriani, son of Giuseppe Cipriani, who invented the dish at Harry’s Bar in Venice: Taking the “thinnest possible slices of raw beef and garnishing it with shaved cheese or an olive oil dressing.” At Fratello’s the thinly sliced tenderloin is arranged appealingly on a plate and as it should be, is topped with Parmesan and olive oil. It is also topped with capers — which I love — as well as a sweet relish and shallot butter. I wasn’t so sure about that. The relish tasted like it belonged on a hot dog, not a nice piece of beef, but variations like that are what makes the culinary world go ’round. I enjoyed it very much with a nice glass of chianti.

My dining companion ordered a bowl of the Sicilian sausage soup ($5.99), which Fratello’s describes as their signature soup. The medley of fresh baby spinach, red ripe tomatoes, sweet Italian sausage, Aborio rice and melted mozzarella with a touch of crushed red pepper, had a good flavor. Unfortunately the sausage is chopped too fine and the soup would have been much better had it been served at a temperature slightly higher than lukewarm. I said Fratellos’ never disappoints, but I guess every now and then, as in life, there have to be small letdowns, and this was one of them.

On the bright side, Fratello’s serves out-of-this world garlic bread sticks and no matter how many they bring, it never seems like enough. But be careful, it would be a shame to eat so many that you ruined your appetite for dinner.

For my entrée, I ordered the veal piccata style ($17.99), chunks of veal sautéed with capers (there are those capers again!) and fresh lemon. The whole thing is finished in a white wine and butter sauce. It was delicious. I found the chunks of veal unusual, as I am used to veal piccata prepared with veal medallions pounded out thin, but the difference in no way detracted from the dish.

Fratello's is in Manchester's Millyard, at 155 Dow St. There also are locations in Lincoln and Laconia. (Tom Roy/Union Leader photos)

Apparently it was veal night, as my dining companion also ordered veal – but parmigiana style instead ($17.99). Veal parmigiana, of course, is breaded veal baked in tomato sauce with melted mozzarella. But that simple description hardly did the dish justice. The veal was fork tender, the sauce sweet, but not too much so, and the amount of cheese just right. So many restaurants smother veal parmigiana in so much cheese, you have to wonder what they’re hiding underneath.

Then there was dessert. I chose tiramisu ($4.99), which was actually one of the better ones I’ve had recently. The cake was nicely soaked in espresso and rum and there was just the right amount of rich egg and cream filling. The literal translation of “tirami-su” is “pick-me-up” and it’s hard not to feel a bit more energetic after all those eggs and sugar (and a capuccino). While many believe tiramisu was invented in Tuscany, there are some who believe that Venice’s courtesans ate it to fortify themselves between their amorous encounters. I like that explanation, true or not.

My dining companion chose the equally good (but far less historically interesting) lemon velvet cake ($3.99), which he described as very moist, with great lemon flavor. It was, he said, an “order again” dessert.

There’s not much more to say about Fratello’s. The food is very good, the service is competent and the atmosphere is pleasant and family-friendly. Really, I can’t imagine ever going there and going wrong.

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