Rosie, Mike Amy and I converged on Aurora to check out Toscana. If you like Italian food, you are in for a treat. The wine list is good, if only because there are multiple bottles in the 30-40 dollar range. We started with a 2005 Solane for $36. It was listed on the menu as a 2004 but since I had never heard of it and could not tremember which year was better for Italy, we went ahead and poured it. The wine was light and smooth, easy to drink. The after taste was slightly sour and clearly evident after we opened up the 2006 Rosenblum Zinfandel, Paso Robles ($40). The Zin was smooth with a distinctly chocolate middle. It was hard to finish the Ripasso after tasting the Rosenblum.
The waitress poured olive oil onto plates with parmagiana and assorted spices making an excellent dip for the warm buns. The calamari arrived quickly and was not quite as crispy as promised. After 2 bites my ears started itching and so I stopped eating them. There was a nice lightly dressed mixed greens on the side and that was both appealing to the eye and refreshing to eat. The red dipping sauce was spicy and almost shrimp cocktailesque.
Between the sauce and the wine, I was sweating buckets. It took me nearly 5 minutes to get over my paranoia as to why all 3 people at the table in front of me kept staring at me (which only made me sweat more). Did they know I was the Jamie from www.drunkandfull.com? When I realized the tv behind me was showing the Buckeyes losing to USC I immediately felt better (Go Blue!), although I continued sweating profusely.
The eggplant with Goat cheese was layered nicely and surrounded by a rich marinara sauce. There was nothing healthy about this. The eggplant was nicely fried with a very typical Italian flavor. Bites of eggplant with warm goat cheese and sauce were a mouthful of flavor. Leave the weight watchers points guide at home for this one.
I got the chopped salad, summer special version, to start. The dressing was light, the salad was cold and crisp, and it was fun to eat. The long string beans got me really excited because I am a huge fan of the under appreciated green bean. These were fresh and crisp and made the salad for me. Rosie and Mike split a Cesar which looked good despite the Anchovies staring at me from across the table. Rosie is a big fan of the anchovy in general, and seemed to enjoy the salad.
Amy ordered up Fettuchini Noodles with Spicy Italian Sausage and mushrooms and picked out all of the sausage and eating it first, leaving no room for the noodles. She has been on a sausage kick lately and this hit home. With a satisfied look on her face she said, pack it up I want the rest for breakfast. Unfortunately, her box which was very considerately wrapped in cellophane made it into Rosie’s bag and I had to listen to her complain no less than 10 times the next day about how much better her pasta was than Rosie’s. Somehow she managed to eat all of Rosie’s leftover pasta with Olivia while complaining the entire time.
Rosie ordered the Pasta with Wild Boar Bolognese. This had the same rich dark look that the bolognese used to have a Tuscany’s. The noodles were large and flat creating a dynamic and interesting plate. The sauce looked like it had been cooking for at least a day and could have been served with cardboard and been delicious.
Mike got the pasta with shellfish extravaganza (muscles and scallops). Checking my notes, it seems he was almost suspiciously quiet about his meal. Knowing he took a box home also I am going to assume he was either not as hungry as me or his dish wasn’t as good as the salmon 
I got the Salmon Special. The presentation was fantastic, nice slab of salmon covered in a light green creamy pesto sauce with a few pieces pieces of asparagus on the side with a small scoop of an orange looking whipped potato. The sauce was everywhere and could have been covering a turd and I would not have complained. My salmon was cooked rare and I have been generally into very well done salmon this year. However, the sauce was so rich and creamy I could not stop eating until my plate was empty. I looked up and realized I was the only member of the “clean your plate club.” This was more cream than I have probably had all year and it was worth every bite.
Dessert was ok, but not spectacular. This is only strange because Tuscany used to have a mind blowing Cassata cake (which you can get at Casa Dolce on Mayfield) and the Tiramisu at Casa Dolce is out of this world. We ordered a Chocolate Mousse Torte and a Tiramisu. Both were ok and we enjoyed eating them. I would love to know why they serve ok Tiramisu when they clearly know what delicious Tiramisu tastes like and even have the secret recipe to make the real thing. This is an easy area with low hanging fruit for Toscana to turn it up a notch and really deliver.
I started with a cheese plate of Oregonzola and cloth wrapped Cabot Cheddar. Their house made toasts and balsamic reduction are always delicious, this time I got to try a pear compote that was spreadable like jam without the sweetness. It contrasted the bite of the cheese perfectly. We drank a bottle of Paraduxx, zinfandel blend from Duckhorn, that was maybe a little to rich for my cheese plate yet smooth, silky and easy to drink. I was not inspired by the veggie offering, although I was very appreciative there was a veggie offering. Fire and DT 140 are not only fine dining experiences, they both consistently offer food that I can eat despite my restricted diet. I asked for a double order of the Mushroom Turnovers and a side of sauteed swiss chard. I love this dish! The scent of Truffle oil, flaky crust, finely chopped mushrooms mixed with Goat cheese is so good I eat slowly, lamenting my shrinking plate with each bite. Chard can replace spinach for me any day, it is more flavorful and the dark greens are appealing to both eye and stomach. Dessert happened but I don’t remember it. Drop me a line if you want to meet up at DT 140 for dinner…
