Bettolino Kitchen

I received a $10 coupon from Bettolino to use before my birthday so when my brother was in the vicinity, I suggested we have dinner there especially since he has never been to this restaurant.  They started us with their warm bread and some olive oil dip with herbs. I asked for some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to put on it.  What a way to start a meal!

I was excited to order the Polipo; grilled Spanish octopus with cannellini beans, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes in a lemon garlic sauce. It is always more enjoyable to eat this when the company you are with enjoys it just as much as you do as opposed to someone who looks at it with utter disgust. Gary loved it, the only thing I forgot was that beans are bad for people with gout. He couldn't help himself so he had some and guess who had the rest.

For our entrées, he left the decision to me. I ordered the Squid Ink Tagliolini; squid ink pasta with sautéed shrimp, pan roasted cherry tomatoes in a basil pesto sauce and the Tortelloni Al Limone; spinach & ricotta stuffed pasta with a lemon cream sauce, parmesan, and herbs. He normally does not like anything lemon but he ended up loving this dish. We were both happy with the two plates of pasta which we decided to split.

Full as we were since we did not hold ourselves back on the bread, we left room for dessert. I had my favorite, Salted Caramelized Semifredo which is a semi-frozen salted caramel mousse, layered Graham crackers with a chocolate sauce. That was very light and refreshing. Gary had the Crostata di Pera; caramelized pears in a pastry puff with vanilla sauce and powdered sugar.

It's not easy pleasing my brother when it comes to food since he is always experimenting on different restaurants all over. One can say he has discerning taste buds.

Bettolino Kitchen is located at 211 Palos Verdes Blvd. in Redondo Beach, California.