Fontana's

Terry took me out to dinner one night. She found the restaurant and kept it as a surprise until we arrived. She choose Fontana's Italian Restaurant in Cupertino. It was nice inside, and we were seated right away. We brought our own bottle of wine so we never took a look at the wine list. We looked over the menu and picked out two starters. They were both dishes that we had had the month previous in Rome. The dish above was the Arancini di Riso. They are lightly fired risotto balls. Inside is a mixture of risotto and cheese, and it was served in a creamy tomato sauce. We had similar rice balls when we were in Rome, but they did not have the cheese inside. So while similar the two dishes are hard to compare. The Arancini was good. The mixture of cheese and risotto made them a fairly dense texture. The mixture was rich, though not overly so due to the mild nature of the fontina cheese. They were fried just how we like them, nice and crisp, but not very heavy. The tomato sauce was also quite rich. It was creamy and did not have an overly pungent tomato flavor. It was quite good.

  If there is caprese as starter at any restaurant there is a 80% chance that one of us will order it (Terry usually beats me to the punch). The caprese that they had at Fontana's was different though. It was made more or less how I like to make it. They used heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala. It was served with vinegar and basil sitting on a bed of greens. I believe this was a special they had that night, and not the regular caprese they normally offer. This was perfect for me. Heirloom tomatoes were the first variety of tomato I liked, and have been my favorite ever since. Bufala mozzarella is also thought to be one of the best types of mozzarella. The tomatoes were thick, juicy, and bursting with flavor. While the mozzarella was moist, but not to the point that it lost its shape and fell apart. Stack the two on top of one another with a dash of salt and you had a deliciously layered bite that presented you with a great contrast in texture and flavor alike. The flavors were were further complimented by the vinegar and basil.

 For my main course I decided to go with the Scampi Saltati. It is a prawn dish, with a crispy crab polenta in the center. The prawns are sauteed in butter, onion, garlic, white wine, and cream. The polenta rests on a bed of sauteed spinach. I thought the prawns were delicious, but the polenta was a bit strange. It was really crisp, and I think I would have enjoyed a lump of fresh crab more. Though it was good if you covered it in the sauce, as was the spinach, which I normally do not like very much. There is something to be said about simplicity in a dish. This had a lot going on, and some areas fell short.

Terry on the other hand, hit a home run on her dish. She decided to go with the Tortelloni Del Mare. The torelloni was stuffed with asparagus and cheese, and was served with prawns and scallops. The tortelloni looked to be made from scratch and had the wonderful fresh pasta taste. The stuffing was well done, and didn't steal the meal with overpowering flavors. Both the prawns and scallops were well prepared too. This dish was simple and straight forward, had a ton of flavor, and was cooked very well.

It is rare that either one of us will order a dessert. It's not that we have anything against them, but after a bite or two we have had enough. This was one of the exceptions. We were having  a great time that night and the creme brulee caught our eye. We both enjoy it from time to time, and it happened to be topped with bananas, which Terry absolutely loves. The dessert was great. The custard was nice and warm on the inside, and the bananas were covered with a crisp layer of caramelized sugar. I love it when I can dip my spoon in and get some of the warm carmalized sugar along with some of the slightly cooler custard. Those two textures, as long as the custard has the right consistency is one of my favorites when speaking of desserts. This creme brulee had just that, and took it up a notch with the bananas. We were very happy, and had a wonderful server too. He offered his honest opinion when asked, and even knew what type of wine glasses to grab for the Cabernet Sauvignon that we brought for dinner. This was a fun place, and a wonderful surprise dinner.