toscana

omg. stuffed veal and gnoche -- to die for!!! my fifth visit -- just gets better and better.

(great wine list too. )


-----16 jan, 2010-----

very pleasant surprise. my experience was excellent. i've been to mancetti's next door at least a dozen times. decided to try their neighbor for a change. very pleased that i did.

* my martini -- delicious! back to basics; none of this silly sex in the city stuff.
* inventive appetizers. a very tasty portobello salad.
* mediterranean sea bass -- expertly prepared. nice buttery texture.
* a chocolate torte to die for! yummy!
* the owner knows his wine!
* a server that knew when to check in, and when to leave us alone.

to be honest, i could imagine that i was sitting in a certain highly rated italianrestaurantn the wynn hotel in las vegas. just as good an experience.

slowest service i have ever experienced. the food was very bland and my white wine was served warm. therestaurantwas empty except for the patio and the atmosphere is very tacky. the only memorable thing was how nice the bathrooms smelled.

notwithstanding the comically clueless picks in charlotte mag botb (i mean really!), this is still the "best italianrestaurantin town. hint: if there no real italians in the kitchen, the establishment is suspect. try the carbonara.

my wife and i just ate here for the first time and we had an amazing experience. we felt like we were back in italy, cruising through a courtyard and happening upon a funrestaurantwith outdoor patio seating and a cozy interior.

we sat inside and were served by stella, who recommended a fantastic red wine to start (2011 villadoria tardoc barbera d'alba), and the bruschetta was an excellent appetizer. the entrees were simply amazing. i had the house specialty, buttera, which is tube pasta with italian sausage in a cream sauce, while my wife had the chicken medici which is unreal. stella was nice enough to bring us tiramisu (best i've ever had) with a very good dessert wine.

we can't believe it took us this long to find this place, but we will definitely be back. the food was amazing as was the service!

not as expected. i'm torn with my rating of this place. i really wanted to love toscana. but several things just don't let me do that:

1) toscana is small and when full, it's so loud you can barely hear others in your party talking. that's not my idea of a nice dinner out.
2) the menu is too similar to positano (closed for over a year), and luce. but the prices are higher. why don't you set your nicestrestaurantin the group apart by offering a truly different menu? and two items our group ordered were nothing special (snapper and lasagna). only my hubby's mare (a high-end version of seafood linguini) was worth getting again.
3) service was extremely slow, and our server was not very attentive to our group. again, it wasn't what you would have expected from a high-end restaurant.

i much prefer luce over toscana, and will likely never return here for the reasons i mentioned above. if you decide to go, definitely go early to beat the crowd. and try the mare if you like seafood.