Bettolino Kitchen

Two weeks ago, we celebrated the birthdays of Gary and Ramon at Bettolinos, which is in my neck of the woods.  Ante and Edna, who are not from this area, wanted to return to Bettolino when I recommended the restaurant to them in the past. Milena, who is from Glendale, has never been, so Sandi and I were happy to celebrate the birthdays at this restaurant. 

We had shared orders of their delicious Calamari, and someone ordered the Beet Salad, which we all enjoyed. We also had their Brussels Sprouts, just as delicious.

We ordered several entrées. Sandi had to order the Tortelloni al Limone, which is their signature dish. Spinach Ricotta stuffed pasta with a very nice lemon cream sauce. I do not know of anyone who has not loved this dish.  Gary had the Lasagna and was not disappointed. 

Ante had the Polipo, a Spanish octopus with cannellini beans, basil, cherry tomatoes, and lemon in a garlic sauce. I have always loved this.  Edna ordered the Brasato, short rib with Mascarpone mashed potatoes and broccolini. 

Ramon had the El Mare, Squid ink pasta with halibut, calamari, shrimp, capers, and green Italian olives in a spicy tomato sauce. Milena and I had the Gemelli con Oxtail, braised oxtail with crimini mushrooms, wilted arugula, and herbed breadcrumbs in a wonderful cream sauce. 

The two birthday boys were presented with their very own dessert, which, fortunately, they shared with the rest of us plus, we had to order their Salted Caramel Semifredo.

I have to mention that we all enjoyed our server John who made our party more fun with his insights and his stories. He was one of us; if he wasn't working, we would have invited him to join us! 

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

Frugatti's

If you pass through Bakersfield, try getting reservations at this restaurant. Sandi and I have been there twice now. It's a nice size restaurant that is decorated very Italian. You can dine outside if you can take the heat. They do have those mist sprayers like you find all over Palm Springs. As you walk in, you see the Italian wood-burning oven, a high ceiling with Italian posters, and pictures of the Raffaele family.

On our first visit, we ordered Katina's Bruschetta. I was impressed with the description of the item. Raffaele made it a point to educate people on how to correctly pronounce Bruschetta, which is brusketa. Very often, people and servers from Italian restaurants pronounce it as brusheta. Anyway, their bruschetta is excellent. The fresh chopped tomatoes were excellent with the garlic and wonderful olive oil and capers.

We ordered two different plates of pasta to share. The first one was Truffle Sacchetti, Beggar's purse-shaped pasta with black truffle shavings and truffle oil, mozzarella, and parmesan tossed in a basil pesto cream sauce. This was super delicious, even if we didn't see any truffle shavings. 

The second pasta was the Filet TIp Bucatini, sliced wood-fired filet tips tossed over bucatini pasta with creamy burrata cheese, diced tomatoes, and shaved Parmesan. This, too, was equally delicious. Loved the tomatoes. The filet was perfectly cooked, and so was the pasta, which was aldente.

Yesterday, we went back to Frugatti's, and this time we ordered the Wood-Fired Roman Artichokes. Artichoke stem and the heart on Focaccia garlic bread. The garlic bread was topped with oven-roasted tomato and burrata cheese, and the whole thing was baked in their wood-fired oven. This was lovely, very creamy, and just plain yummy.

We ordered 2 plates of pasta again. The Truffle Sacchetti, which we've had before, and this time we thought we'd try the Nona's Pasta Al Pomodoro. This is a simple pasta; if done right, it is incredibly delicious. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed. It just didn't have enough flavor. I think the tomatoes were off. It was edible but not as enjoyable as what we'd had or expected. 

We would still definitely go back since their menu is extensive, and I'm sure trying other kinds of pasta, pizza, steak, and chicken will not disappoint. Frugati's is located at 600 Coffee Rd. in Bakersfield, California.

Adore Dessert Café

I hosted a dinner party two days ago and served the Concord; frozen chocolate partait. This was a hit among my "foodie" friends. This dessert was so very light and creamy. We picked up the Concord as soon as Adore opened with the intention of having breakfast. We ended up with two tarts to share; the Apricot and the Rhubard, which were both scrumptious.

Yesterday, Sandi and I picked up an order for our friend Milena who lives in Glendale, and since we were there, we tried some of the "eye-catching" and unusual desserts. One was a beautiful cake that was encased with folds of crêpes. It is like a sponge cake with raspberries. This incredible dessert was first created by Patrick's father in France. Many bakeries tried to duplicate it when it came out, but none came close to the original. It was so delicious that the French retail company Carrefour, offered to buy the rights to the recipe, but Patrick's father graciously declined. We both loved this very light cake. It was beautiful, and we enjoyed savoring each bite.

The second pastry we got was pretty new. They didn't have a name yet. I had a name for it but could only share it with Patrick and Kaity. You can use your imagination. It's a lovely buttery crust with chocolate ganache. Inside the chocolate are chunks of pears. This is topped with a caramel mousse with caramel inside. This, too, was outstanding because it was not too sweet. It was perfect!

Adore Dessert Café is located at 901 N Catalina Ave. #100 in Redondo Beach, California. They are open Wednesday to Sunday from 9 AM to 5 PM.