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MARCH 2016 A Little Taste of Tuscany - Trattoria Toscana By Kelly Kingman Have you been to the
Temecula valley lately? We've got every kind of food you can think of. It sure seems like there's no shortage of restau- rants, especially Italian. From pizza to pasta, I think it's safe to say Americans love Italian food. Pizza. You can get it hot, fast and cheap delivered to your home. Heck, put everything on it and extra add cheese. We can't seem to get enough! But is it good or just what we've come to know and think is pizza? I spent some time in Italy and that's not Italian pizza. The pizza I ate had a thin crust with very little cheese and a small amount of toppings. I really like the thin crust. And pasta. There's spaghetti, linguini, penne, rotelli and bowties. Have you ever had bucatini (also known as perciatelli, a thick spaghetti like pasta with a hole running down the center) or pappardelle (very wide flat pasta, wider than fet- tucini)? If not, you are missing out on something special. Which brings me to the question: Have you ever had real Italian food? I have.
Traditional or not, I can't resist a good marinara loaded with mushrooms, tossed with linguini and a couple of hearty meatballs atop or a lasagna with sausage (yum!) I enjoy Italian food so much I attended a week long course at the Culinary Institute of America just to fine tune my skills. From Venice to Sicily, each day we studied a dif- ferent territory. The dishes were wonderful. We cooked with extraordinary vegetables like broccolini and wild mushrooms such as chanterelles and morels. Fresh seafood and shell fish. Simple instructions, delicious entrees with no more than 5 ingredients. And surprisingly very few red sauce recipes. It certainly was not what I was eating in my favorite Italian restaurants that I love so dearly. I was a bit confused. Although many dishes from their original country are slightly different here, I won-
dered if they are they altered to please the American palate?? Maybe so. I am not a fan of chain restaurants; I prefer the cuisine of family owned eateries. And there are many great Italian restaurants. My latest discovery is Trattoria Toscana. This 50 seat eatery has been in business since the end of 2013. A small authentic Italian restaurant where the chef/owner cooks his menu daily. Located across the street from the Prom- enade Mall, in the Palm Plaza on Ynez, Pietro Cinus shows off his flair for bringing the flavors of Italy to Temecula. Pietro is one hard working man who creates everything from
scratch. His labor intensive menu consists of pastas, gnocchi and bread, to name a few, all made from scratch daily. His bread is a French style baguette which he serves with olive oil and balsamic. As in Italy, they do not serve the bread
hot. The gnocchi is truly like soft pil- lows, tossed with sautéed eggplant, spinach and sun dried tomatoes. I have never had gnocchi like that. Bravo! And the pappardelle! It was equally tender and flavorful, tossed with fresh mushrooms and coated with a rich creamy sauce! Magnifi- cent! Carpaccio: thin slices of filet mignon with capers, lemon, olive oil, arugula and parm! An absolute fa- vorite of mine done to perfection. Don't forget desserts. There are a couple versions of his tiramisu, and crostata di nutella, and torta della nonna. Oh just go in and try them all! As a teen, Pietro spent the first
8 hours of his day designing wood- work. When he was finished with that, he spent another 8 hours learn- ing to cook, which included making pasta, from his mother Maria. Grow-
ing up on the beautiful island of Sardinia, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, Pietro lived in a paradise with fresh fish, mussels, clams and squid with the country side farms and wild asparagus. He later moved to Tuscany, where he further developed his style. It is apparent
that his training turned into a passion, not just with food. When you visit Trattoria Toscana you will see he also brought his woodworking talent with him! His creations include the counter that wraps around the bar to the tops of every table and a few pieces of furniture that make his restaurant charming. Yep, as I said, he makes every- thing! Be sure to look at the cabinet made from a tree trunk. He carved into a unique wine bar and wine glass rack. It's an incredible piece to be proud of! They have friendly service, attentive but not overly and knowledgeable about
the menu. (Big plus!) Remember this is not fast food so don't be in a hurry. Bring your friends and your appetite. I still have my favorites just as you do; only now I have more to add to that favorites list! Godere! You can check their website
trattoriatoscanintemecula.com for upcoming events
such as the traditional Sardinian pig roast which is a 5 course meal. The webpage is done exceptionally well. It is very informative and has everything from the menu to Pietro's history. They even have happy hour. I saw two different times per day. Cin Cin! They are however closed on Tuesdays. Breaking news: He says he may start doing breakfast on the weekends...
Trattoria Toscana
26485 Ynez Road, Suite N, Temecula, CA 92591 951-296-2066 ~ Like on Facebook
The gnocchi is so tender is it like little pillows of fabulous flavor.
The potato ravioli were in a light sauce with a lemon jam on top that really brought the flavor to a new level.
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