Barone’s Tuscany Grill

Serving everything from soccer-crowd pleasers to fine Tuscan cuisine, and ending on just the right note with espresso, this Pennington spot is ‘perfetto.’

By: Kate and Tom O’Neill

Barone’s Tuscany Grill

21 Route 31 (at Broemel Place)

Pennington

(609) 818-0012

www.baronestuscanygrill.com

Food: Very good

Service: Friendly, efficient, informed. Family-style service available.

Prices: Appetizers: $5-$12; salads: $7-$12; entrées: $10-$26 (specials may be priced higher); desserts: $3.

Cuisine: Italian

Atmosphere: Welcoming, bright, bustling

Vegetarian and Vegan Options: > Pasta, salads, eggplant dishes. Chef welcomes special orders.

Hours: Mon.-Thurs.: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. noon-9 p.m.

Essentials: Accepts most credit cards; off-street, shared parking; BYO; wheelchair accessible throughout.

Directions

(TIMEOFF PHOTOS/MARK CZAJKOWSKI)
   Restaurateur Giovanni Barone is taking Pennington by storm with his new Tuscany Grill. Located in the recently opened Shoppes at Pennington on Route 31, the Grill mixes a bright interior with a menu that runs from pizza and panini to innovative, ambitious dishes drawn from Tuscan cuisine. A diner here has options beyond ordering an appetizer and entrée. Guests may also order family-style, shared platters from the menu. Regulars may be invited to enjoy the "chef’s special table," a selection of Chef Mark Longo’s favorite, using the day’s freshest ingredients.
   The restaurant has the feel of an indoor, European market. In the foyer, two steps beyond the entrance, a counter displays platters heaped with the ingredients for an antipasto Toscano: chunks of Pecorino-Romano, herbed green beans, olives, tomatoes, spicy mushrooms, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. This bold, colorful display of abundance sharpens appetites and reflects the character of the restaurant: this is not a suburban pizza place with some familiar Italian-American entrées on the menu. It’s a real Italian-inspired restaurant with a wide-ranging menu.
   Beyond the foyer, the ceiling soars two-and-a-half stories, creating the spacious feel of those European-style markets. The Grill’s open kitchen is topped by a 30-foot mural of soft Tuscan hills and vineyards, viewed as if through the rounded arches of a stone portico. The building materials are natural: stone and tile for the counters, wooden tables set with sturdy, curved silverware, knotty pine floors, raw wood beams and exposed brick. These hard surfaces do nothing to soften the noise of a busy restaurant, but in two weeknight visits, we’ve had no trouble with the acoustics. In the Grill’s next phase, Mr. Barone told us, he will add window treatments to soften the sound. But, for now, he’s enjoying the excitement provided by the laughter and conversations heard around the room.
   The restaurant attracts, and accommodates, a clientele mixed in both age and style. On the pizzeria/panineria side of the restaurant, children in soccer uniforms lounge contentedly in front of a televised soccer match. The larger dining room hosts families and couples, while a stylish party of 30-somethings celebrates a special occasion in a rear alcove. Somehow, the juxtaposition of soccer-league-casual and couples-evening-out works. Even the Coca-Cola carry-out cups for children, complete with plastic covers and straws, make sense: there’s less family tension when the drinks don’t spill.
   Cokes-to-go are at one end of the spectrum. At the other are the dishes produced by Chef Longo, whose cosmopolitan training shows in his interpretations of Italian classics. Enlivened with fresh herbs and novel presentations, portions here would satisfy the largest appetites.
   The antipasto Toscano ($13) captures the spirit of the restaurant. The server dishes up generous portions and delivers them tableside and would surely add or subtract items, depending on the diner’s preference. A special salad was a summery treat: crottins of crisp-fried goat cheese ($8), tucked into baby greens, white beans and cherry tomatoes. Crab bisque ($6) flecked with dill and tomato was enriched with lump crab and topped with a melting slice of mozzarella that dripped enticingly with every spoonful. The bisque, accompanied by a salad, would make a fine meal any time of the year. Calamari marinara ($8) were tender and delicate, with fresh oregano brightening the sauce.
   From the grill, a generous T-bone Angus steak (market price) was served with a side of broccoli rabe. The steak, cooked exactly medium rare as ordered, was seared deep brown, leaving the meat juicy and full of the distinctive, almost-sweet flavor of Angus beef. Barone’s blanches the broccoli rabe before sautéing it, removing most of the bitterness and producing a flavorful side dish, well matched to grilled meats.
   Of course, the menu boasts a variety of pasta dishes. The risotto del giorno ($26) was not the refined, delicate dish made famous by Stanley Tucci’s Big Night. Instead, it was the essence of Barone’s abbondanza: a fleet of clams and mussels in their shells, shrimp, calamari and scallops topping a creamy risotto, cooked al dente. The seafood is lightly spread with the diner’s preference of red or white sauce. We requested the white version, with wine, lemon and butter that complemented both the rice and the seafood.
   The flavorful lump crab ($19), served over al dente cappellini, shone through a drizzling of olive oil and translucent slices of garlic. The single portion of lasagna ($18) was both enormous and enormously satisfying (it could easily serve two hungry diners). Topped with a meatball of prodigious size and a formidable slice of sausage, it was bathed in a rich tomato sauce, with the broad, flat noodles cooked to just the right point.
   Desserts, displayed in a disconcertingly bright-lit, glass-fronted case, are made by a pastry chef in another of Mr. Barone’s establishments, a catering kitchen in Bordentown. The velvety chocolate torte ($6) boasted a thick sheet of fudge, a chocoholic’s delight. Beside this extravaganza, the light berry torte ($6) with its fresh blueberries and raspberries, was a pleasing palate cleanser. The closing act: a true Italian espresso ($2.50) with crema froth. Perfetto!