Bomboloni from I Preferiti di Boriana at the San Francisco Ferry Building.
Trattoria Corso, Berkeley
Back in 2004, I was lucky enough to study aboard in Florence, Italy, where, like anyone would, I fell in love with the food, the wine and the culture. But it wasn’t until just a year or two ago that I was introduced to Trattoria Corso in Berkeley and felt like I’d finally discovered a local restaurant with food truly reminiscent of Florence. (Side note: If you are familiar with Rivoli, also in Berkeley, you’ll most likely enjoy Trattoria Corso as well – same owners).
Even the restaurant itself feels authentic, with framed menus from Italy adorning the walls and an open kitchen with pots, pans and utensils in seemingly constant motion. Here are the dishes I sampled on this particular visit to Trattoria Corso:
The funghi pizza was covered in mozzarella and fontina cheeses and topped with mushrooms and white truffle oil – if you ask me, it really doesn’t get better than this! I had to stop myself from eating too much of it so I could enjoy the pasta dishes that I knew were coming up – and I was glad I did!
We tried the pappardelle (made in house!) with braised rabbit ragu as well as the orecchiette con salsiccia, a pasta dish with house-made pork sausage, little neck clams and rapini. Even I was unsure about the combination of the clams, pork sausage and rapini but I was amazed to find that this was by far my favorite dish of the day. I was literally using bread to soak up every last bit of the sauce on this dish! The pappardelle was delicious too – you just can’t go wrong with homemade pasta and sauces.
Trattoria Corso has officially become my go-to for when I’m craving that homemade Italian comfort-style fare that I loved to eat in Florence. Now I’m curious – does anyone know a place like this in Sacramento? If so, please share by leaving a comment below.
Trattoria Corso
1788 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 704-8004
Tightwad Tuesday: Piatti
Attention all Italian food lovers! Piatti, an Italian trattoria in the Pavilions Shopping Center in Sacramento, is currently offering a three course dinner special for $20! Start the meal with your choice of a small Mista salad, Caesar salad, or cup of soup. For the main course, order any of Piatti’s small pastas like the ravioli, linguini, bucatini, or tortelloni. We suggest you save room for dessert because you will get to choose from three Italian favorites: tiramisu, gelato, or sorbetto. And don’t forget, an authentic Italian meal is never complete without wine; add a glass for just $2!
The special is available during Piatti’s dinner hours, seven days a week. For more information call (916) 649-8885.
Piatti
571 Pavilions Lane
Sacramento, CA 95825
Hot Italian’s New Brunch Menu – That’s Amore!
Brittany – I love brunch. And I love pizza. Now I’m no mathematician, but I’d like to think that in the case of brunch and pizza, the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts. Are you following? To clarify …
BRUNCH + PIZZA = AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS
How did I discover this, you ask? Recently, fellow Sac Foodies Cecily Fuller, Julie Berge, Christine Schunk and I had the pleasure of sampling what we now know is one of the best brunch offerings in town, and it’s found at none other than Hot Italian. We feasted on pizzas and, of course, dabbled in the dessert, my favorite being the Zucchero – organic Italian chocolate hazelnut spread wrapped in a delicious dough then dusted with powdered sugar!
Cecily – I was looking forward to brunch at Hot Italian all week and I wasn’t expecting anything short of delicious – and boy did they deliver! Each entrée combines two of my all-time favorite foods (pizza and eggs) but with new and oh-so-yummy flavor like the Ventura pizza that features two sunny side up eggs, tomato sauce and fior di latte cheese! I also enjoyed the traditional Italian music that the restaurant plays during brunch hours.
Julie – As a recently converted vegetarian, I have come to learn that breakfast and brunch dishes without a ton of carbs and still full of flavor are hard to come by, which is why my taste buds were thrilled to discover the Nibali pizza at Hot Italian. The thin-crusted pizza consisting of scrambled eggs, mushrooms, spinach, truffle oil and crescenza cheese was incredible and a definite group favorite. (Note: for those meat lovers, there is the option to add prosciutto for just $2 extra.) I also especially enjoyed washing my meal down with the tasty Prosecco cocktails that are offered in three flavors including bellini (peach), tiziano (strawberry) and arancia rossa (blood orange). Finally, the icing on the pizza pie was that there was no wait to sit down and begin enjoying our Italian brunch experience.
Christine – I can’t wait to go back before this local breakfast secret gets out, because it’s just a matter of time that this place will be buzzing in the mornings. I definitely agree with Julie that the Nibali pizza was my favorite – perfect brunch pizza that could easily pair with a nice Italian latte, or a Prosecco cocktail (we “sampled” with both just to be sure, hee hee). I always knew pizza for breakfast was a good thing, but pizza made for breakfast is even better!
Hot Italian’s brunch menu is served on weekends from 11 AM – 4 PM.
Courtyard Dining: Osteria Fasulo
I’ve lived in Davis for just over two years now and still love trying new restaurants. When Rick Kushman suggested that the SacFoodies try Osteria Fasulo as part of the courtyard dining series I jumped at the chance. Osteria Fasulo is an Italian restaurant located in West Davis: its location is unique in itself – the restaurant is situated in a residential neighborhood instead of downtown, where most others Davis eateries are located. In fact, I was wondering to myself when we pulled up how a restaurant, so far off the beaten path, was famous for being one of the best restaurants in town… and then I saw the patio.
I would like to point out that the inside of Osteria Fasulo is homey, and very nice, but the patio is what makes the place so great – it’s huge and looks onto the restaurant’s garden and a neighborhood bike path. Lucky for my husband and me it was a warm summer evening and we wanted our meal to linger into the night when the patio’s strung lights would be illuminated, which it definitely did!
As per usual, we couldn’t decide what to try, so we ordered a selection of menu items and tasted off of each other’s plates. After the order was placed and wine poured, our server left us to sit at our cozy corner table under the grapevines, while she started rustling through the garden. We made our guesses about what she was harvesting and then saw her surface with a small squash blossom and immediately disappear into the kitchen.
It was to my pure delight when our first course, a Summer Squash Soup, came out topped with the blossom, stuffed with goat cheese and grilled – delish!
Our evening got better as the sun went down – the food kept coming and the service was very friendly and the staff was quite knowledgeable.
Lobster & Beef Carpaccio.
Lobster & Spinach Risotto
Pistachio crusted Salmon and green beans
Just as we were being served dessert the owner, Lenardo Fasulo stopped by our table to say hello and ask how our dinner was. I loved this – such a nice touch that not many restaurant owners take the time to do, and it makes all the difference. At Osteria Fasulo you feel at home and welcometo sit in the patio and enjoy until your heart’s content. Of course nothing tops off a long dinner like a dessert and a latte – our choice was the Bavaria Cream with Raspberry Puree and Chocolate Shavings. What a night!
Osteria Fasulo
2657 Portage Bay East
Davis, CA 95616
(530) 758-1324