Arturo`s Restaurant is worth the wait

M
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Arturo’s Restaurant is worth the wait
By Nadine Ouillette
I
I never think to make reservations
for dinner. If I have to wait, I wait.
Fifteen minutes, 20 minutes, even
30 minutes. Forty minutes or
more and I assess the situation
and decide whether it’s really
worth the wait. Most of time, I
take my family and go elsewhere.
This time, I decided to wait.
My friend Julia and I walked
into Arturo’s Italian Restaurant on
a recent Saturday night, and the
nice hostess said there was an hour wait. We thought about for
a second and decided that we had time. Her husband Chris
was watching all our kids, as we hadn’t had any friend time
lately. We could have waited at the elegant bar and had a glass
of wine, but decided to walk around the Esplanade and come
back to Arturo’s for dinner.
The Esplanade has its share of restaurants, and none seemed
overly busy; we could have easily eaten at CJs on the Bay, Tara
Steak & Lobster or Guy Harvey’s Island Grill, but we had our
minds set.
So, back we went to Arturo’s. The hostess greeted us and
showed us to a table in the bar area. I asked her if there were
any tables in the dining area, and she quickly found one and
showed us to our table. There is dining on an outside patio, but
when it feels like 90 degrees at 8 p.m., I opt for air-conditioning.
Our waiter, Dano, came over, introduced himself and took
our drink orders — two iced teas — and listed the tantalizing
appetizer and dinner specials. He said he would be back to
take our order.
Julia and I perused the menu and decided on escargot and
one of the specials, stuffed Portobello mushroom, for appetizers. For our main course, Julia chose the special, stuffed pork
chop, an award-winning entrée at Arturo’s. I chose another
special — pompano Luciano. If you’ve never tried pompano,
please do. It’s a nice mild white
fish and not usually on any menu
as a regular item. We both decided
on the house salad with Gorgonzola dressing. A Caesar salad is
also available.
Dano brought our drinks and a
basket of bread to the table. The
warm bread was accompanied by
dipping plates and a cruet of olive
oil.
We had some time before our
appetizers arrived and both commented on the rich, warm
golden hues of Arturo’s, the white tablecloth and the sparkling
glassware. We sat at a table for four, next to a half-wall with
marble columns that divided up the large dining room, making
more intimate between tables. Very nice, indeed.
To put it bluntly, the place was packed. I think we were the
only table of two. A large, four-generation group took up most
of the front dining area. They were celebrating multiple birthdays and an anniversary. It was a bit noisy, but never seemed to
intrude our conversation.
Appetizers arrived soon after. Julia’s escargot were swimming in butter and garlic in a traditional serving dish. Yes, escargot is a fancy French word for snails. These were not overcooked and quite tender and, of course, the bread soaked up
the butter after all the snails were gone from the half moon
indents of the plate.
The Portobello was quite large, with a healthy portion of crab
stuffing, and could have been an entrée, served with a salad. I
cut the mushroom in half to share with Julia, as she had been
nice enough to share those garlicky snails.
Dano was quick to refill the ice tea and did not hover. Busboys quickly removed the empty plates and the salads arrived.
Crisp lettuce, along with tomato and cucumber, filled the
plate. There was more than enough Gorgonzola dressing. I
wished for more chunks of the creamy cheese, though. By the
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way, there is an extra charge for the Gorgonzola
dressing.
Dinner arrived just as we finished the salad. We
both gasped at the size of the boneless stuffed
pork chop, smothered in a mushroom wine sauce
and peas. It is the Italian version of comfort food.
The pompano Luciano was a beautiful mix of
colors and textures. The lightly floured and pansautéed pompano was served with a lemony yellow butter sauce, thinly sliced white onions and
dark green capers.
Dano brought extra plates for sharing. If my
friend didn’t want to share, I don’t know if I could
have decided on single entrée.
With the entrees divided up, we both tasted the
stuffed pork chop first. Melted cheese spilled out
of the chop on the first cut. A swoosh of the fork
into the brown glossy sauce, picking up a mushroom with that first bite of pork, was almost sinful.
The pompano Luciano was completely opposite, in a good way. Light and delicate, the taste of
the pompano shined brightly through the sauce.
Neither of us even tried the penne pasta with
marina. Dano packed up leftovers of the pork and
pasta for us to take home.
Dano proceeded to tempt us with a dessert
menu and coffee. Julia chose the traditional Italian
dessert, tiramisu; I decided on the French classic,
crème brûlée.
The crème brûlée was a creamy vanilla cloud
under a shell of caramelized sugar in an oval ramekin. With each spoonful of the smooth custard,
there was crunch of sugar. It was ambrosial.
Julia loved the tiramisu: espresso-soaked ladyfingers enveloped in a rich mascarpone and zabaglione mixture. Arturo did not skimp on the portion; two could easily have shared the lovely presentation of this confection.
We lingered at the table, enjoying the last drops
of coffee as Dano packed up the rest of the Julia’s
tiramisu. The restaurant was thinning out, the
large party had left and it was nice to just sit and
chat for a few minutes more before heading out
into the dark, humid air.
Arturo’s Italian Restaurant, 844 Bald Eagle Dr.,
Marco Island, FL 34145-2543. Call 642-0550 for reservations.
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