RESTAURANT REVIEW: Tutti-ing the Horn for Tutti Mangia
A dining destination close to home makes for the perfect culinary expedition.
Like thousands of Southern Californians over the long holiday weekend, I decided to fill up the gas tank and head out of town. Four miles later, I reached my destination, relaxed and ready to try a restaurant I’d always heard so much about: Tutti Mangia, in the Claremont Village. It was the perfect out-of-town dining experience.
Despite not having a reservation on a busy Saturday night, the hostess found my wife Colleen and me a perfectly placed table with a panorama of the bar, and, more important, an unobstructed view of Game 7 between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Moments later, our waiter warmly greeted us, handed us our menus, and promised that a basket of bread fresh out of the oven would be on its way to our table.
Tutti Mangia prides itself on offering a Italian cuisine with international influences, focusing on grilled meats, fresh seafood, pastas, and decadent desserts.
Off the Piccolo menu, Colleen selected the Scallopini di Pollo, featuring medallions of chicken breast, porcini mushrooms, Marsala wine sauce and Yukon gold-roasted potatoes. The chicken was tender, the sauce light and perfectly seasoned, and the potatoes were little nuggets of toasted bliss. I know because I insisted on trying a portion.
Off the Paste e Risotta section, I ordered the Lasagne, with ground beef, Italian sausage, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, marinara and béchamel. It was light, delicately composed and full of flavour.
We enjoyed our light repasts over a glass of merlot and congratulated ourselves that we arrived at Tutti Mangia just before all the dining rooms had filled up.
We asked to see the dessert menu, but rather than sort through all the delightful choices, including tiramisu and a chocolate flourless cake, against which I can never show any resistance, we took our waiter’s selection, the Crespenelle, a torte filled with cream topped with toasted slivers of banana and drizzles of chocolate and caramel. It was heavenly.
Tiramisu
The Boston Celtics ended up winning, but Colleen and I felt that we were the biggest winners of all. We had found a restaurant that exceeded our expectations. Indeed, we didn’t stop talking about it during the entire long drive home.
Leave a Reply