VinciTorio's

Located at 1835 E. Elliot Road, Tempe, Arizona
480-820-2786
Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover

We arrived at VinciTorio's on a Friday evening at 6:00 without reservations. While the staff was slightly taken aback by our lack of planning, they never the less accommodated our party, seating us in the main dining area. Guest have the option of eating outside on the porch if they wish. The outside is screened off from the street by lovely, live grape vines.

While we did not order wine, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of wines by the glass. Few restaurants have as varied a selection by the glass.

Our first order of business was salad. I and companion #1 had house salads; mine with a nice, creamy house Italian dressing, and companion's with a rather ordinary Ranch dressing. The salads were very fresh with some nice frisee, but lacked more than half a cherry tomato. Companion #2 ordered a Caesar Salad which was pronounced ordinary. The salad came with grated Parmesan cheese, and would have been greatly improved with the addition of some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano on it.

Main courses were ordered. I ordered Linguine Vongole ($13.95). Flavor was satisfactory, but it would have been much better with fresh clams instead of canned ones. The menu states Little Neck clams, but if these were, they were definitely not live at the time of cooking. Part of the enjoyment of eating a vongole is getting the clams out of the shell and getting every last drop of sauce off the shells. While my personal preference would have been a slightly thickened sauce, it was properly prepared in the style of the Amalfi coast and could be easily sopped up with lots of the excellent garlic bread.

Companion #1 ordered Agnolotti Carbonara ($16.95), which are small ravioli stuffed with chicken and sausage in a cream sauce with sauteed bacon. This was a nice dish with two caveats: #1 the sauce needed some salt and some garlic added to it to make it stand out, and #2, the sauce would have been better with a nice grade of pancetta lardons instead of what was used. While the sauce was adequate, the two mentioned additions would have made it truly stand out. Again, my personal preference would have been to have the sauce thicker so that it adhered more to the pasta, but that is a matter for debate among chefs.

Companion #2 ordered the evening's special ($24.95), a Roulard of Chicken with Prosciutto and cheese with a Marsala wine and mushroom sauce. This was the stand out dish for the evening. Cooked beautifully, loaded with mushrooms and a sauce that definitely had character and the flavor of Marsala wine. A real winner!

On to desserts, the absolute high point of the meal. I ordered the Panna Cotta ($5.95) which came with macerated raspberries on top and a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips on the plate. Having eaten this dessert from coast to coast including Little Italy in New York City, I can easily say this was the best Panna Cotta I have ever eaten. It was smooth and silky and just melted on your palate. I'd gladly eat it over and over again.

Companion #1 had the Tiramisu ($6.95). Unlike many other tiramisu's, this one did not suffer the usual overabundance of espresso coffee, but rather had just enough to lend it's flavor without being overbearing. The portion was huge and the texture was smooth and silky.

Companion #2 had the Limon Tartufo. While Tartufo usually means truffle in Italian, this was nothing like one, yet it was an outstanding dessert. Nice and tart lemon flavor surrounded by a sponge type cake, somehow sliced into even slices and arranged in an overlapping row on the plate.

Desserts are a must have at this restaurant. If you didn't eat the meal, you should at least eat one of the wonderful desserts.

Service was at a comfortable pace, and the restaurant was nice and clean. On Friday evenings they apparently have live entertainment. The evening we went, they had a person playing the guitar while softly singing familiar songs in the background. I was thankful for the volume, as too many vocalists try to intrude on the diners to the point of overwhelming their dinners and conversations. This was just right.

Overall, this was a nice meal that could do with a little polishing to bring it up to speed. Considering the cost of the meal (over $100.00 including tip for 3 people) one should not expect to find anything lacking. This reviewer will definitely try this restaurant again in the hopes that it will rise to the shining star it should and can be.