rosariosristorante.com

Seven months ago, after taking back his renowned restaurant, LaViola, he renamed it Rosario's and has resurfaced serving some of the best Italian cooking in our area. We have always been a big fan of his oversized family portions that will serve two quite adequately. But I can’t get the eggplant rollatini out of my mind. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted and I mean the best. Rosario takes thin slices of eggplant and soaks it in an egg and flour mixture before pan-frying it. He then takes ricotta cheese and mixes it with egg, pepper, salt and parsley and puts this delicious filling inside the eggplant which is then rolled up. He tops this creation with his ethereal tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese and then bakes it. I guarantee you will never taste anything better. The people at our table all had a taste and all concurred that it was ze best.

I also loved the chicken Milanese, a chicken breast pounded and pan-fried and topped with salad green. The portion was so big that it wound up in a doggie bad and was yesterday’s lunch. My wife shared a veal chop and broccoli raab with our guest’s wife and raved about it. Overall it was nice to see Rosario again—we're happy he's back.

Copyright 2010 Florida Table Magazine

Rosarios
    By Bill Citara
        Boca Raton Magazine
        March/April 2010 Issue

Judging by Rosario’s menu, there’s nothing much that seems to separate Rosario Lanza’s cozy Boca Raton restaurant from the dozens of similar Italian eateries in the area. Fried calamari, fettuccine Alfredo, veal from piccata to parmigiana, grilled veal chop, tiramisu, cannoli—all the usual Italian culinary suspects.

Well, cover, meet book, because what a superficial look at Rosario’s menu doesn’t tell you is the quality of ingredients that go into these familiar faces and the expertise so tastily evident in their preparation. Nor does it say anything about how they can range from subtle to bold or about portions large enough to feed a family of four for a week. Judge this book by the cover, and you’re missing out on a classic.

That timeless quality is no accident, as Lanza—the original owner of Boca’s beloved La Viola—brings a lifetime of experience to Rosario’s table. It shows up in the effortlessly competent service, the comfortable and unpretentious ambience, affordably focused wine list, and understated decor that allows the food to be the star.

Shining brightly among those stars is clams casino, which, too often, tastes like shag carpet atop fish-flavored rubber balls. Here it’s a light and fresh-tasting amalgam of red and green pepper, tomato, onion, celery and pancetta riding little dollops of clam meat that pop in your mouth.

The same kind of restraint elevated a basic perciatelli Amatriciana to something that’s impossible to stop eating. The quality and precise cooking of the plump strands of pasta was matched by the meaty, pancetta-flavored tomato sauce, applied in exactly the right proportion to make sauce and pasta a marriage of equals.

Among Rosario’s specialties are country-style chicken dishes—cacciatore, scarpariello, balsamico and the like. If you’ve forgotten how good these simple roasts and braises can be, remind yourself with, say, the signature chicken Rosario’s, half a crisp-skinned bird with juicy pork sausage, broccoli raab, peppers and potatoes that needed only to be moistened with a bit of sauce to achieve poultry perfection.

Cannoli is a fitting conclusion, merely sweetened ricotta in a crunchy, cinnamon-y shell, not much cover but lots of book. Just like Rosario’s itself.