Nothing motivates me more than
a blatant case of ballot-box stuffing, so I couldn't wait to
blow the lid off Vitello's.
This joint has had a lock on
the top spot in the "Tucson's Favorites" ranking of the
Citizen's online restaurant guide for several months.
I mean, come on, how could
this little-known Catalina eatery really rate with all the
lofty, lauded dining options this town has?
Hatem Rdid, who owns Vitello's
with his wife, hail from Palermo on the island of Sicily,
but their menu, which includes pizza, calzone and panini,
paints a broad brush of Italian cuisine.
Vitello's has a very
family-friendly feel. The kitchen bustles like a family
preparing a holiday meal for relatives, and the Rdids'
20-month-old daughter/hostess, Zeyna, will drop by your
table, pull up a chair and sit for a while, before heading
off for more interesting company.
We'd barely pulled up our
chairs at the modest but nicely appointed strip-mall unit
when the waiter set down a large plate of complimentary
bruschetta.
Though the bruschetta's
excellence caught me a little off guard, I had 26 miles of
driving time to come up with menu items to test Vitello's
muster and was determined to expose them as a fraud.
I was dead wrong about the
Fried Calamari ($6.75). The mix of baby squid and small but
longish halos of larger squid were thinly battered in an
angelically delicate breading, and the calamari's texture
walked the perfect tightrope between a limp noodle and a
rubber band.
Uh oh. Equally as good was our
other starter, the Toasted Cheese Ravioli ($5.25), stuffed
with just the right amount of ricotta cheese and toasted to
a golden brown, for an image worthy of a magazine cover, and
providing the perfect counterpoint to the soft cheese.
By this time, I was starting
to feel pretty ashamed of myself for being so cynical. Then
again, the Rdids could still blow it with the entrées.
The Vitello Mezzaluna ($16.50)
was wonderfully unique, a sweet yet piquant meld of breaded
veal medallions and prosciutto in a dastardly rich,
vodka-laced, creamy tomato sauce. I've had such sauce before
(it's usually termed "vodka blush") but never done this
well.
My companion's Fradivola del
Mare ($14.50) was shrimp and scallops in a spicy - and I do
mean spicy - tomato sauce with linguini. This was not just
marinara with some added heat. It had its own complex
identity, one that played well off the subtle, soft scallops
and linguini. As for the shrimp, they were elegantly infused
with the flavors of wine and garlic to a degree that was
almost confounding.
To top it all off, Vitello's
Tiramisu ($5 .50) was jaw-dropping for its simple, homemade
power. It was exceedingly rich but not overly sweet. The
lady fingers were dipped just long enough in the espresso,
and the marscapone in the filling was expertly balanced to
the sugar.
We came away from Vitello's
staggered by its artistry for balanced flavors and textures
and spot-on execution. We also came away with a lot more
money left in my wallet than I should have had after a meal
this excellent.
It's a good thing I don't wear
a hat, because I would have had to eat it, and I was stuffed
- as stuffed as the online ballot box for Vitello's, which
it turns out, is stuffed for good reason.
AT A GLANCE
What: Vitello's Ristorante
Italiano
Address and phone: 15930 N.
Oracle Road, Suite 178, 825-0140
Specialty: Italian cuisine
Vegetarian options: several,
including Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, Funghi and Peperoncino
entree ($7.25)
Desserts: Cannoli ($4.25),
Mudpie ($4.50), Spumone ($3.75), Tiramisu ($5.50), Chocolate
Mousse ($4.25), Fried Ice Cream ($4.25)
Currency: cash and most credit
(no American Express)
Most recent health inspection:
An "excellent" rating Nov. 28. No critical violations were
reported.
