![\"Spaghetti](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/web-Seafood-pasta1.jpg\")
<\/a>With barely a whisper, the restaurant formerly known as Olivetto Caf\u00e9 & Wine Bar changed hands last year and modified its name to Olivetto Ristorante. The food remains Italian, but most of the recipes originate from a family matriarch living in Bologna, Italy.<\/p>\n
Regarding an appetizer that exposes us to the simple yet exquisite pairing of Gorgonzola and celery on crostini, new owner Angelo Fiore said, \u201cMy mom told me that if I put it on the menu, I can\u2019t go wrong.\u201d No doubt, the crisp snap of diced celery turns the heavyweight cheese into something unusually refreshing.<\/p>\n
The input from overseas didn\u2019t stop there. Fiore obliges by using bright San Marzano-style tomatoes for the marinara sauce while omitting fennel-spiced sausage from meaty Bolognese that\u2019s layered into lasagna. The inclusion of Italian sausage is an American custom, although in Fiore\u2019s homeland the combination of modestly salted ground beef and top-quality pork is good enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cSausage kills all the flavors,\u201d he said while showing off some of the staples he imports from Italy such as authenticated Grana Padano grating cheese, smooth-roasted Essse Caffe coffee and a few desserts shipped frozen from the leading Italian wholesaler, Bindi. In addition, the focaccia bread and sheet pasta are made in-house.<\/p>\n
Fiore, who travels back to Italy often, said that his menu isn\u2019t a reinvention of Italian cuisine but rather a means to showcase the purity of dishes he grew up with in his mother\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n
Not surprising, the menu also starts off with baby eggplant filled with ricotta and spinach; bruschetta with imported balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil; and classic antipasto featuring prosciutto, salami and mortadella complimented by lightly brined artichoke hearts. In addition, there are several salads ranging from a basic \u201cmista\u201d with lemon-herb vinaigrette to the heartier Del Campo incorporating eggs, olives and mushrooms.<\/p>\n
While plowing through the lasagna Bolognese, my companion trained his fork on spaghetti allo scoglio, a m\u00e9lange of fresh clams, shrimp and mussels over pasta. Bravo for the ever-so-subtle liquid of white wine with a little garlic dressing the dish. Fiore and his mother know darn well that nothing kills the flavor of shellfish more effectively than those pasty cream sauces used commonly in American-style Italian restaurants and the touristy kitchens of Rome.<\/p>\n We never made it beyond the menu\u2019s pasta section and into the \u201csecondi piatti\u201d category, but nor did we leave as much as a crumb on the plates we ordered. The protein entrees include things like veal saltimbocca, arugula-topped New York strip steak, chicken Marsala and a tempting veal chop that\u2019s simply breaded and pan-fried, which I trust would measure up to the memorable fried veal I\u2019ve eaten in northern Italy.<\/p>\n At the meal\u2019s end, I broke my hiatus for tiramisu since it\u2019s one of the few desserts made in-house and a confection that my companion never passes up. The liqueur-soaked slab was juicy and springy, with manageable measures of creamy mascarpone cheese. Paired with Port or the coffee that Fiore imports, you can\u2019t go wrong.<\/p>\n Olivetto\u2019s wine list offers a full range of global labels that escape the shelves of most commercial outlets, particularly the Italian productions from Abruzzo, Puglia and Tuscany. The bottles are stacked in handsome wall units at the end of a small bar that overlooks the airy dining room. Though the interior has hardly changed from its previous incarnation, the food carries the traditional flavors that you\u2019d find simmering in any Bolognese household.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Olivetto Ristorante 860 W. Washington St. (Mission Hills) 619-220-8222 Dinner prices: Salads and appetizers, $5.95 to $10.95; pasta and entrees, $12.95 to $24.95 By Frank Sabatini Jr. | Restaurant Review<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Mother knows best","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>