Six-year-old Mario’s Tuscan Grill is one of those restaurants that keeps popping up on the best-of list of anyone in Palm Beach County who is serious about food. One visit and I’m among the converted.
It starts when we walk from the car to the front door. Mario’s landscaped what could have been just another dismal suburban parking lot.
Inside, the restaurant is warm and intimate. The piano player is mid-set. The wait staff is ready and attentive. The menu is big and written with the kind of detail that speaks to Mario’s approach to Italian: fresh ingredients simply prepared. But don’t mistake simple for standard because chef Yousry Hosein pushes the edges of Italian toward American bistro-style.
Consider delicate salmon carpaccio served on a thick potato pancake with creme fraiche ($12) that tastes like a very American brunch dish. Or Mario’s almost-paella take on creamy sweet steamed mussels, which are paired with spicy sausage in a tomato broth($11). A huge bowl of sweet seafood chowder ($9) is loaded with scallops, crab and carrots.
There are more traditional appetizers here. There’s a Tuscan platter of cold cuts and cheese ($20) and an antipasto vegetable platter ($20). Consider also the fluffy potato gnocchi with a creamy pink sauce ($12).
Portions are big here, but in the interest of sampling as much as possible, we order both a pasta course and entrees. Risotto is perfectly cooked with broccoli rabe and house-made sausage ($19). Lobster bolognese includes diced lobster, shrimp, scallops and tomatoes over fettuccine ($24). One order of pasta split four ways is the way to go.
A weekly special, pan-seared salmon saltimbocca ($26), causes some concern when I realize the chef has combined a salmon fillet with proscuitto. But the meat is sliced so thin that only its earthy saltiness comes through, a perfect foil to this rich-tasting fish. With another special, veal scaloppine are filled with crabmeat and served with amaretto risotto and escarole ($26). The risotto is odd, cloyingly sweet, as it seems to get all of its flavor from a dash of the liqueur right out of the bottle.
On the regular menu, tender braised lamb shank ($28) is paired with what’s almost a stew of orzo, white beans and escarole. Ask for the pistachio-crusted rotisserie duck ($27) to be prepared crispy, and you’ll get a meaty bird with delicate chambord sauce, sweet mashed potatoes and savoy cabbage.
Desserts are a spectacle. The show-and-tell cart with its rotating shelves is worth the price of the show. If you order one sweet, it should be warm apple crostato with vanilla ice cream ($10). Imagine an apple tart with a softer rustic crust. Panetone bread pudding ($8) and chocolate layer cake ($10) are also hits.
Just one thing bothered me on my visit. Our waiter started to pour red wine into what looked like white wine glasses. When I asked for an appropriate glass, we were told that only diners who bought wine costing $70 or more receive red wine glasses. Dumb policy, but as the manager explained by phone, the all-purpose wine glass is fine for most diners. We got our glasses. And had one heck of a meal.
I often dine with the same group of four, and this is one time where the food became just as important as our conversation.
John Tanasychuk can be reached at jtanasychuk@ sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4632 or by writing to him at the Sun-Sentinel.
