Restaurant report: Bella Cena

It's hard to write about a friend's restaurant, usually, because you hate to say anything critical or that may be ill-received.
But this is a good time to write up Giancarlo Frusone's long-running Italian joint on Spruce Street in Center City Philadelphia, for two reasons: 1) he needs the customers and 2) it's going very well right now.
The place was shuttered for months due to a fire in an adjacent restaurant, and judging from the three tables occupied at 8:30 p.m. on a  recent Thursday, the word has not gotten out that 'Carlo', as he's well-known in the community, has re-opened.
The issue at Bella Cena has never been the food. Carlo buys good ingredients and his kitchen staff is always superb. The issue has been service -- long delays in getting food, mixups, etc. However, with the place not busy, this is much less of an issue, and one gets the idea that maybe the service issue has been fixed, anyway.
And this is a good time to drop in because Carlo's colorful brother, Sandro, is manning the stoves and the man can flat-out cook, especially seafood. I had a scallop appetizer to die for, three big sea scallops cooked a point with sauteed veggies and a light wine sauce, and a terrific piece of rare-ish salmon topped with a tangy livornaise sauce. The menu is full of Italian favorites, more Roman and Northern than Southern, pasta - the gnocchi are always good - and some big meat dishes such as rack of lamb or ribeye steak for carnivores.  
Sandro's creative too -- a mixed-green salad topped with fresh mango and a mango-laces dressing was worlds better than it sounds. I could have eaten a double portion. 
Desserts are basic, but Sandro's tiramisu is light and airy and his "chocolate souffle" -- I would call it a molten-chocolate cake -- was sinfully rich yet appealingly not-too-sweet. Espresso was fine, though it hasn't always been.
The Bella Cena wine list is pretty much Italian with a few U.S. bottles thrown in, which I would avoid. He has plenty of high-end Piedmontese and Tuscan reds at fair prices, and some decent quality value wines too; I'd avoid the house wines, though. I had a luscious, lemony and long 2010 Castellari Bergaglio Gavi Fornaci Gavi del Comune di Tassarolo, perhaps my favorite Italian style of white, at $39 a bottle. Served a little too cold, but still a refreshing and tangy bottle.
Service was fine except when Sandro yelled at my server for offering me black pepper for a dish, that he, Sandro, deemed it unnecessary for -- "that dish need-a nothing" -- Sandro is, um, shall we say, a gent who knows what he likes. And the bread could be a lot better in a city filled with quality bakers.
There's a pleasant and well-stocked bar to enjoy port or brandy in afterwards.
Near the Kimmel Center, you won't do much better for value or quality. The mercurial Sandro may not be around for long, but don't miss his cooking. He's special. And, right now, so is Bella Cena. 

Bella Cena, 1506  Spruce Street, Philadelphia, (267) 858-4600. Reservations at opentable.com. Dinner nightly.