Italian? On Valentine's Day? Now, that's amore. Some Delaware restaurant suggestions
There's something about an Italian restaurant when you're in a romantic state of mind.
For Valentine's Day (or any time for that matter), there are few things better than sharing a cozy meal with a loved one amid the aromatic flavors of Italian olive oil, imported Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, fresh basil, and simmering tomato sauce.
Now, that's amore.
If you have a passion for pasta, you probably already know about Mrs. Robino's Restaurant (a venerable Wilmington restaurant that has served Italian specialties since 1940) or Bardea Food & Drink (the contemporary city Italian restaurant that's been recognized by the prestigious James Beard Foundation).
Here are some more Delaware Italian restaurants where you can twirl a fork:
Ristorante Attilio
1900 Lancaster Ave, Wilmington; ristoranteattilio.com
This quaint, old-school, Italian-American restaurant right on the edge of Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood, operated by the Perrino family, has been a mainstay in the community since 1985 and has very loyal regulars. It is one of the city’s few remaining “red-gravy" institutions.
The dining room is wood paneled, the paper placemats have a map of "Italia," there's a full bar and the restaurant is well-known for handmade pasta, consistency, and as a place "where people can count on getting a good meal at a fair price." Attilio also is the place to get Italian wedding soup, fried smelts, string beans and potatoes, a terrific chopped antipasto salad, cherry pepper shooters, and the restaurant's must-try (if you like heat) signature crunchy and spicy sundried peppers, which are kind of like fiery, skinny potato chips.
For entrees, you can't go wrong with spezzato over spaghetti or greens over spaghetti, cheese ravioli, "Mamma Vincenza's" lasagna, or the manicotti served with a meatball.
Piccolina Toscana
1412 N. Dupont St., Wilmington; piccolinatoscana.com
Chef/owner Dan Butler's casual contemporary Italian restaurant in Wilmington's Trolley Square has been enticing Delaware food lovers since its opening in 1991. It also has a good Date Night setting. The brick oven still turns out breadsticks and pizzas, and the beloved Caesar salad and homemade tortellini rolled with ground mortadella ham and ricotta tossed in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce remain on the menu.
Dishes we also like include carpaccio di Manzo or thinly sliced beef tenderloin, raw onion, Reggiano, capers, avocado, lemon and truffle oil. If you want pasta, go for linguini di mare or semolina pasta with crab and shrimp simmered in Tuscan olive oil and garlic broth. For other entrees, check out the braised lamb shank with fig and port wine infused demi-glace over butternut squash risotto; and the swordfish grilled and topped with tomato, capers, and kalamata olives with broccoli rabe and soft parmesan polenta.
Toscana offers prix-fixed meals on Thursdays, and a popular Sunday brunch buffet with dishes such as ouva all'Inferno (spicy poached eggs) and handmade spinach tortellini has returned from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are suggested. Toscana To Go, next to the restaurant, has a special Valentine's Day menu. Order by Feb. 12.
Scalessa’s Old School Italian Kitchen
1836 N. Lincoln St., Wilmington; scalessas.com
Scalessa's, an Italian restaurant at North Lincoln and Shallcross streets deep in the heart of Wilmington's Forty Acres community, isn't exactly a place you stumble across. You have to know to know about the restaurant that Don Scalessa opened in 2016. Inside the brick building, painted gray, that dates back to the 1920s, the vibe is definitely neighborhood casual. There is no liquor license. The lunch menu includes standards such as porkette sandwiches with broccoli and "long hots," Italian subs and chicken cutlets, along with newer dishes like the "Sunday gravy" Parmigiana sandwich with meatballs made with pork and sausage and provolone cheese.
Look for specials such as peppers and sausage, bone-in porkchop parm or cheese ravioli. Other dishes to consider: Gnocchi baked with four kinds of cheese, the eggplant "stack," Grandma's Sunday gravy and rigatoni, Veal Scalessa topped with crabmeat in blush sauce and sausage, beans and greens.
La Casa Pasta
120 Four Seasons Parkway, Glasgow; lacasapasta.com
La Casa Pasta, less than 5 miles from downtown Newark and the University of Delaware, has been operated by the Martuscelli family since 1978. Renovations were completed this past October in the bar and banquet areas. The restaurant has four different dining areas and the dress in the main dining room is "upscale casual."
The menu still includes staple dishes such as mussels fra diavolo and melanzane Parmigiana which have helped make La Casa Pasta a 45-year success.
The menu includes Neapolitan-style pizzas, veal Saltimbocca, rack of lamb, chicken Marsala, shrimp scampi, whole bronzino, and orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage.
La Casa Pasta has various weekly specials including a tasting of three pastas on Tuesdays for $25 and the return of the express lunch buffet Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. A limited menu will be offered on Valentine's Day.
Lupo Italian Kitchen
Hotel Rehoboth, 247 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach; lupoitaliankitchen.com
Coastal Italian cuisine is the theme at this SoDel Concepts restaurant operating on the bottom floor of the sophisticated Hotel Rehoboth in downtown Rehoboth.
The pasta is made in-house and popular dishes include lobster bucatini, and rigatoni bolognese. When it comes to antipasti, we wouldn't miss the arancini with caramelized onions, leeks and tomato cream or the shaved Brussels sprout salad with truffle oil, almonds, lemon and pecorino cheese. Deals at this open year-round restaurant include half-priced pasta on Wednesdays.
V&M Bistro
1717 Marsh Road, Brandywine Hundred; vmbistro.com/welcome
Vincenza & Margherita Bistro, an Italian American restaurant across from the Graylyn Shopping Center, celebrates its 10th anniversary this October. The scent of garlic and classic red sauce hangs heavy and ignites the appetite at the family-run establishment owned by sisters Vincenza and Margherita Carrieri-Russo.
The menu has pasta fagioli and stracciatella. I wouldn't pass up the spicy mussels in brothy, garlicky marinara fired up with "long hots." Try some classic dishes such as the pork Fiorentina or the veal piccata. V&M also has signature dishes including a 1-pound butterflied veal chop, the cioppino and the timballo or "Sunday feast wrapped in pasta." This meat lover delight is a lasagna-style pie that's topped with "Sunday sauce"’and alfredo sauce. Some might remember a version of the timballo that was served in Stanley Tucci's 1996 movie, "Big Night."
The pasta, bread, garlic knots, and tomato pies are made in-house. You can't go wrong with pasta dishes like spaghetti alla puttanesca or the gnocchi gorgonzola.
V&M also offers New York and Sicilian-style pizzas. If you get the St. Anthony's pie with sausage, roasted peppers, onions, tomato sauce, and cheese, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington.
Capers & Lemons
301 Little Falls Drive in Little Falls Park off Centerville Road, Mill Creek; capersandlemons.com
In 2009, the Platinum Dining Group (Eclipse Bistro, RedFire, El Camino) opened this restaurant that offers modern versions of classic Italian fare. Owners Carl and Lisa Georigi wanted it to evoke the sense of a classic Italian restaurant but in a contemporary setting. The kitchen also offers updated twists on traditional Italian dishes.
Pizzas and flatbreads are wood-fired. Menu mainstays include chicken Romagnola, or chicken, peas and garganelli pasta in a tomato cream sauce, along with rigatoni bolognese and spaghetti Pomodoro (which is said to be a favorite of President Joe Biden, whose Greenville home is not far from the restaurant.)
Other dishes not to miss include the seasonal agnolotti, clams and linguini served with garlic toast, the eggplant "lasagna," the house braciole with spicy capicola, rustic tomato sauce and creamy polenta and the grilled artichokes with grilled lemon, parmigiana and arugula
The Georigis also own two other Italian restaurants Taverna Rustic Italian restaurants with locations in downtown Newark and Talleyville.
More Italian restaurant options
Valle Cucina Italian Steakhouse in Pike Creek; Cafe Napoli in Milltown; Caffe Gelato in downtown Newark; Vincente's Italian Restaurant off Kirkwood Highway; Luigi Vitrone's Pastabilities and Cafe Mezzanotte, both in Wilmington; Roma Italian Ristorante in Dover; Benvenuto in Milford; DiFebo's in Bethany Beach and Rehoboth; Touch of Italy in Lewes and Rehoboth.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Celebrate Valentine's Day at these Delaware Italian restaurants
