Tattoni’s Cafe

Homey meals at very reasonable prices mark this spot.

By: Patrick Mooney

   TRENTON — There are some restaurants that are easy to recommend. It’s difficult to imagine anyone not enjoying the experience there. Then, there are other restaurants which the reviewer enjoys, but also recognizes that they won’t appeal to everyone. These restaurants are no less deserving of recognition, but with a caution to the reader. Tattoni’s Cafe in Trenton’s Chambersburg section is just such a restaurant.
   Tattoni’s is not the place for you if tight spaces, mismatched china, the lack of a menu, funky paneling (visualize scenes from Tom Sawyer) or the occasional whiff of your neighbor’s cigarette bother you. However, do go here if you want a homey meal, in the best sense of the word, at very reasonable prices.
   As soon as you step inside, you are in the middle of the tiny, 14-table dining room (there are another four tables in the bar area). Three of us were seated immediately at a fairly roomy table. To start, we ordered glasses of Citra Merlot ($4.50), Ruffino Chianti ($4.00), and Luna di Luna Cabernet-Merlot blend ($5.50), all perfectly acceptable.
   Our waitress carefully recited the menu to us (remember, no written menu). While I paid close attention to Melissa’s recitation, I knew that Tattoni’s was noted for their roasted items — veal, pork, chicken and chicken cacciatore — and had set myself to order one of them. Other dishes included veal scaloppini, veal and peppers, baked fish (turbot), shrimp fra diavolo, and shrimp scampi.
   I selected the cacciatore ($16), the others chose the roast pork ($15.50) and the veal scaloppini ($16.50). There are no appetizers as such, but we did receive a number of dishes before our entrees arrived. First, a small plate of very nice bruschetta was brought to the table. Soon afterward, a good-sized antipasto salad arrived. Served family style, the salad was a mix of romaine lettuce, slices of Italian meats, olives and a few pieces of melon, tossed in a light vinaigrette.
   Then the pasta arrived. The pasta? When we ordered our entrees we were offered a choice of sauces. The basic sauce is a traditional marinara. Other sauce options, available at a small supplement ($1.25-$3.50), are meat, mushroom, crab and broccoli. We chose the marina, the meat and the white mushroom sauces. The marina had that deep, rich taste that only comes with slow cooking and a family recipe. The mushroom sauce is a white wine and butter sauce liberally studded with quartered button mushrooms. The meat sauce was a deeper version of the marinara, flecked with small shards of beef and pork, and was my favorite.
   Finally, the entrees arrived. The two thick slices of pork arrived in a pool of pan juices and were perfectly roasted and incredibly tender. Tattoni’s version of chicken cacciatore is served in a white wine sauce that is slightly complex, but not so much as to obscure the chicken. The four pieces of chicken were falling off the bone but still moist. The veal scaloppini was the only disappointment of the three. The sauteed veal slices were very tender, but the sauce was overly salted. We were also served a dish of nicely cooked runner beans, peas, and corn.
   There were four desserts available — the ubiquitous tiramisu, tartuffo, cannoli cake and peanut butter ice cream, none made in house. We chose the tiramisu and the cannoli cake, both $3.25. The tiramisu was fine, but the ladyfinger base was a bit soggy. The cannoli cake consisted of two layers of yellow cake with cannoli filling in between and a small, flaccid cannoli on top. The cake was not particularly interesting — the filling was the best part. Espresso is made in a perculator and was slightly bitter. Regular decaf coffee was perfectly fine. But let me say, no one is going to Tattoni’s for coffee and dessert.
   Tattoni’s is a unique place and, as such, is not for everyone. This is not a sanitized version of the restaurant experience, but real food cooked by real people, so some dishes are somewhat better than others and probably vary a bit from night to night. Still it’s easy to see why Tattoni’s is full most Friday and Saturday nights.
   A friend of Italian ancestry who has dined at Tattoni’s said that it reminded him of eating at one of his aunts’ houses on a Sunday afternoon. I should have been so lucky.