[syrahgirl]

Am I dreaming? We have driven by this place several times since it opened about five weeks ago, but I was not prepared for the quality of food going on in this new Italian restaurant in Seaside. I peeked in before we decided on this place for our dinner last night and loved the ambiance. Fireplace, very upscale dining room.
We were seated in the main dining room at one of the small tables for two, with the high dining chairs. The menu looked very innovative, offering many different kinds of appetizers,salads, entrees and desserts. Our server was very friendly and helpful. We brought in a bottle of Abacela Red Table Wine to go with our dinner. There is a $10 corkage fee.

We started with the Bruschetta, Italian bread brushed with fresh herbs and grilled. Served with sundried tomato black olive tapenade that was outstanding. Next we shared a raelly different salad called the T Street Salad with organic greens, tossedwith grilled vegetables,sundriedtomatoes,Italian Olives garlic crostinnis and finished with maple basil balsamic vinaigrette. The grilled vegetables were very good, the presentation amazing. I will post photos on Tripadvisor later. Everything that was coming out of the kitchen was gorgeous. The chef came out at least three times and chatted with us about the dishes, restaurant, phjilosoph, etc. He used to work at the Stephanie Inn and trained in France.

Our entree was the Chicken Parmesan, prepared the Old Worldway served over linguine, with marinara and sauce four Italian cheeses and dripping with herb mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Very, very good. The food is of excellent quality and I can't say enough about the presentation going on here. I've dined in Seaside for about twnety years and have yet to see anything of this quality going on in this town.

Desserts were the Creme Brulee served with housemade basil ice cream. Beautiful,my husband loved it. I chose the very interesting and unique Lemon Dream. Lemon perfumed Italian Meringue servedin petitie chocolate cups (housemde and delicious) and dotted with a sweet lavender coulis. For $5. Comprable to lots of places I've dined at in San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma. No kidding!

I think this place is going places, fast! I don't thinki Richard Fensack has critiqued it yet, but I will be interested in his opinion of the place. I give him an e-mail and let him know how much we enjoyed it. The Taste of Tuscany gets an A plus from both my husband and myself. I hope some of you will stop by and tell me what you think on your next visit to te coast.

Bon appetit!

[syrahgirl]

I will add that they do not accept reservations at this time. Taste of Tuscany is located at 1815 S. Roosevelt.

[syrahgirl]

My review with photos of our meal is now published on Tripadvisor if anyone is interested! I'll be looking for Richard Fensack's review in the near future, he should be getting over there soon also.

[Plump_and_Juicy]

Syrahgirl, can you post the URL with your photos? And is it near Big Foot? Thanks.

[syrahgirl]

HI P&J, yes it is about a quarter of a mile from Bigfoot on the same street. Taste of Tuscany is on the corner.

[hidenseek]

Here's the URL, Plump & Juicy: http://tinyurl.com/ffg4r

[Plump_and_Juicy]

Thank you, lovely photos and as you said, great presentation. I have a friend going to Seaside to paint the exterior of our cottage and I've told him about this new restaurant.

[syrahgirl]

Thanks, please report back on how he likes it! I'm hoping they stay around for awhile, Seaside needed a great place with Kalypso closing. I saw a Japanese restaurant is going to open in that space, if you go please let me know what you think!

[Plump_and_Juicy]

Can you give me an idea of prices for entrees and appetizers please, if you remember? It seems we are paying for his dinner there

[syrahgirl]

Hi, I'm sorry I don't recall the prices. We shared everything, I do remember commenting on how inexpensive the desserts were to my husband. (Under $6.) I'll see if I can find our receipt from our meal later and will let you know if that turns up!

It was not unreasonable by any means. Hope this helps!

[syrahgirl]

P&J & others, there is finally another review on Tripadvisor now called "Best Italian Food From Portland to San Francisco" from another happy diner at Taste of Tuscany! Cheers!

[Katee]

We tried this restaurant on opening night and were pleasantly surprised with both the service and the meals, but a few weeks later we took some friends and the service was anything BUT service. The food was also not as good as the first time. I think we will give it a rest before going again.

[syrahgirl]

Plump & Juicy, did your friends go there yet and how did they like it?

[Plump_and_Juicy]

syrahgirl, on Sep 24 2006, 12:33 PM, said:

Plump & Juicy, did your friends go there yet and how did they like it?

Yes, syrahgirl, he did go there. He thought it was very good, and expensive. He's not used to paying $40 for dinner I guess. We got to foot the bill

[syrahgirl]

Glad he enjoyed it.

[syrahgirl]

Oh and what did he have there? We split everything we had which was nice, there was no split plate fee here, but that may change as time goes on.

[Plump_and_Juicy]

syrahgirl, on Sep 24 2006, 01:06 PM, said:

Oh and what did he have there? We split everything we had which was nice, there was no split plate fee here, but that may change as time goes on.

I'll see him on Thursday and ask him. A steak of some sort, I seem to recall, and an appetizer - maybe a bottle of wine or some kind of alcohol. Details aren't my specialty anymore.

[syrahgirl]

Yes, if he remembers that would be great for future reference. Thanks!

[Plump_and_Juicy]

Mr P and J and I stopped in at Taste of Tuscany for lunch yesterday, Saturday. It was pretty good - nothing to rave about. I had fettucini Alfredo with shrimp and Mr P and J had lasagna.

My plate had a generous amount of fettucini in a very thick, viscous sauce. Flavored well, but too much sauce for the pasta - I left a third of it on the plate. The five shrimps were a little overcooked, still in their shells, buried under the pasta. But the food wasn't bad - and kept me full the rest of the day.

The lasagna was a square about 5 x 5", and 3 inches tall. My one bite of it tasted too strongly of rosemary for my taste. There were no vegetables on either plate. Mine was $16, his was $14.

We were served one cigar-shaped roll and butter ball each. We ordered a brownie with hot fudge and vanilla ice cream. They advertised home-made ice cream but the waitress admitted that the chef didn't know how to make ice cream (too many ice crystals - doesn't have an ice cream maker!).

When I was thinking about my order, I asked the waitress if any of the shellfish was local - they had crab, lobster, shrimp and scallops as options. She had no idea, but went to ask the chef who *thought* the shrimp were local. Aren't chefs supposed to know where their food comes from?

The main chef left for the day before we ordered our dessert, so someone else put it together - it was a mess. Globs of chocolate sauce tossed at the plate. But again, it tasted good.

I wonder about their garnishes. My pasta (which had no lemon in it) had lemon zest around the rim of the plate. Mr P and J's lasagna sat on squiggles of balsamic vinegar. And then there were the fried pieces of spaghetti sticking out of our food. They were tasteless, but we had fun swordfighting with them.

It's good to try new places, but I think they need to get their kitchen act together a little bit. Service was pleasant.