Saturday, October 11, 2008

Tutto Pasta Cucina Italiana

Last night we went out for my birthday. We've been wanting to try Tutto Pasta for awhile, and last night we did.
We liked it quite a bit. Almost everything on the menu looked interesting and we had a hard time deciding on what to have. The atmosphere was nice and fairly quiet, though not extravagent by any means. The restaurant has outdoor seating and the weather was perfect, but due to Madison's smoking ban, there were a couple of tables of smokers outside which made the option less desireable for us.
We each ordered a pasta dish and split an appetizer--but most of the salads and meat-based entrees looked interesting as well. We started with an appetizer of buffalo mozzarella, lightly breaded, deep-fried, and covered with spicy tomato-sauce and basil chiffonade. It was nicely done: crunchy outside, melting inside, but not at all greasy.
James ordered the "Tour of Tutto" containing three of their best-selling pasta dishes in "sampler" size. His favorite of the three was Rigatoni Cucina, a dish that contained grilled chicken and mushrooms in a romano-cream sauce.
I had the Penne Ai Quattro Formaggi: penne pasta with fontina, mozzarella, gorgonzola, and parmesan in cream sauce. It was probably the most cheesy pasta dish I have ever consumed but was nicely done and highlighed all the best elements of each cheese. I normally do not enjoy blue-cheeses, but I didn't realize it contained gorgonzola in time to ask for a substitute. However, the sharp-tanginess of the cheese actually added a lot to the dish and I didn't find the blue element to be too strong.
The portion sizes were generous, but not as large as I have seen served at some pasta places. James finished his whole entree and I took about 1/2 for a future lunch.
The total for the meal came to just over $40 with tip. However, Restaurant.com has certificates available and we were able to get a $25 gift certificate good off a bill of $35 or more for less than $10.

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