| rev:text
| - Italian Restaurant, the generically named eatery from James Beard Award-winner Chris Bianco, is scheduled to open its doors Monday, Jan. 16, 4 o'clock, in the Town and Country Shopping Center, around the corner from Trader Joes. They were right on time.
Chef Claudio, the mercurial boss of the kitchen Italian Restaurant is outside his door to meet and greet just a few folks before he begins his voodoo that he does so well. He shakes my hand and we introduce.
The Tuscany dining room is an old world stage. Fired candlesticks light the walls. Framed pieces of art hang with pride. There is an energy about, that certainly is a tribute to mama, and the "food we grew up with."
I sit at the bar as a gentleman is finishing "home movies" of the guest arriving. Tom becomes my server. He is wearing a Claddagh ring. His is in the marriage position. I have one too, I wear mine in the prowling position.
I order a drink and Tom brings me red wine from Dos Cabezas Wineworks in glassware you would see at the Italian family table. As a footnote I have been to a blessing of the harvest at this Southern Arizona Vineyard. These Festivals are surreal. Mine included monsoon storms in the distance while walking in the vineyard at night with my date. You can taste the love that goes in this table wine.
First on the menu is antipasti. I decide to have Pecorino Di Fossa. 6. This is a hard, flaky sheep's milk cheese that you must hold on your tongue resisting to bite for as long as you can. A cheese that has been aged in caves for four months, indeed subterranean holes that occur naturally in the Northern Italian landscape of this area, and they are the source of Pecorino di Fossa's complex flavor and aroma.
It is time for Chef Claudio to fire my Organic Kamut Grain Spaghetti. 14. Chef has been making pasta longer than anything else, so the choice is simple. Server Sidney announces spaghetti and serves me from the left. I look over to her and with the sparkle in her eyes and lovely smile, I'm shot through the heart.
I have an order of Pane Bianco bread to mop my sauce and work my pasta. I taste slight heat in the sauce from Contorni Peppers. The dish is just perfect.
I finish with a cafe solo in a demitasse cup and a cube of sugar on a demi spoon.
Bottom line I spent 48 dollars for two glasses of wine, cheese and cherries, spaghetti and bread, and a cup of espresso.
And one last note, tell your server how long to wait to fire your entree, if your in a rush say so, if you want to slow it down to enjoy your experience with your date, say it. And the smaller portions are in line with rising high quality organic ingredient costs.
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