Tosca, with Chef Cesare Lanfranconi

[pastramionrye]

i am going to tosca with my girlfriend for our anniversary....

i have never been there, but cesare has done several demo's at my school, and i loved his cooking...plus my gf loves italian food...

anyone been there? what are your thoughts?

thanks.

[John W.]

Was just there last week. I think he changes his menu a lot, but I had a bunch of canapes, including a chilled polenta soup (hard to explain the technique but I am guessing seasoning shellfish broth with polenta, straining and clarifying it, and then hitting it with gelatin and chilling it). Garnished with lobster medallions and caviar. Killer. Softshell crab with pea sauce was great too. I have absolutely forgot entrees, but rockfish was very good and duck was good too.

I am fond of the wine list, and service is good as well. You should have a great time.

[tjaehnigen]

I have been to Tosca twice, both during restaurant weeks. I enjoyed myself quite a bit at both outings. I also appreciate the BYOW with corkage policy. I plan on going here again soon.

[John W.]

After the debacle that is the Firefly thread, donrocks and I went to the bar at Tosca for some eats.

Quite nice.

Highlights included an asparagus and fontina salad with black truffle vinaigrette

Venison carpaccio with baby arugula, parm and figs with porcinis (I ate this dish even with a severe mushroom allergy).

Soft shells with corn and lemon brown butter

A couple rounds of pasta: Beet ravioli with pesto cream (sublime meld of flavors), stinging nettles with Gorgonzola tortellini (again, expert balance of flavors - that dish rocked), and a few that I can't remember. Rocks?

Wines:

Soave Classico Superiere, Calvarino: Killer, not as straightforward as I've had in the past, lots of earthy aromas, but still very bright. An adult wine as Rocks said.

Nebbiolo/Dolcetto, Prunotto "Bricco del Drago" - Just what the doctor ordered: Lots of chewy licorice flavors, the dolcetto really smoothes it out. For $50 on the list, a knockout.

Vino Nobile de Montapulciano - Cesare gave us taste, and then we bought a bottle. No descriptors because I didn't write anything down. But great.

Tosca rocks.

Edited September 6, 2003 by John W. (log)

[slkinsey]

Always nice to follow up dinner with a refreshing jump from the Castel Sant'Angelo, I'm sure...

[John W.]

Actually finished it up with a refreshing dive into the Castels Sant'Citronelle and de Guards.

[hjshorter]

Actually finished it up with a refreshing dive into the Castels Sant'Citronelle and de Guards.

Is the Guards still open? I used to go occasionally. And didn't the folks who owned it own some other bar too?

[John W.]

It's still open, still an institution. The other place you speak of is the Childe Harold in Dupont.

I would think their pastas do not stand up to Tosca.

[DonRocks]

Worthy of a separate thread, in my opinion. Went back tonight for the second night in a row. I quote from their menu:

Risotto all'aragosta del Maine e pisellini freschi al timo

Risotto of roasted Maine lobster with green peas and fresh thyme $ 29

This, had with a Barbaresco by the glass, was simply as good as it gets.

You might not think a simple, individual pea would have so much impact, but each-and-every damned pea in this course means something. It is a brilliant dish, and beautifully executed. No, it's not cheap, but for what's in the bowl, it IS cheap. There's bigtime lobster going on in this dish.

It's an earth-shattering dish that actually made me feel humble when I ate it.

You won't leave hungry, as it's a huge portion. Have it with a bread basket at the bar, and if you're starving (like I was) a cold yellow-pepper soup, and you'll have eaten one of the best meals in the entire city. Do it, do it now.

Bravo.

Rocks.

Edited September 6, 2003 by DonRocks (log)

[vengroff]

Sounds like a very nice dish. Anything that brings a customer back for a second night in a row has got to be something special. I look forward to giving it a try.

Lobster, peas, and pasta is one of Tom Colicchio's trilogies of ingredients in Think Like a Chef. I see no reason not to replace the pasta with rice.

[Mark Sommelier]

Actually finished it up with a refreshing dive into the Castels Sant'Citronelle and de Guards.

Wabeck, you boob. Giacomo Puccini wrote a little opera called "Tosca". At the end of said opera the tragic heroine, oddly enough named Tosca, leaps from the parapets of Castel Sant'Angelo to elude the sinister forces of Baron Scarpia, the man she has just murdered.

[John W.]

Actually finished it up with a refreshing dive into the Castels Sant'Citronelle and de Guards.

Wabeck, you boob. Giacomo Puccini wrote a little opera called "Tosca". At the end of said opera the tragic heroine, oddly enough named Tosca, leaps from the parapets of Castel Sant'Angelo to elude the sinister forces of Baron Scarpia, the man she has just murdered.

Opera puts me to sleep. Especially when listening to it at a certain grape juice purveyor's abode.

All I know about Italy is what I've put in my mouth. And so far it's a wonderful country.

[DonRocks]

Anything that brings a customer back for a second night in a row has got to be something special.

Make that three.

The foie gras seems expensive at over $20 for an app, but the portion size is ridiculous, certainly enough for two hungry diners. Served with cherries macerated in grappa. Mmmmmm....

[vengroff]

Make that three.

Repeat after me: my name is Don, and I am a risottoholic.

[Mark Sommelier]

Make that three.

Repeat after me: my name is Don, and I am a risottoholic.

Darren,

Don is a friend of mine. You don't know the half of it.

[John W.]

Lobster risotto is the new crack?

That said, what would our mayor get caught with now?

A big bowl of crustacean flavored rice and a bottle of Le Montrachet?

Rocks, you are the man.

[DonRocks]

Can there be a more satisfying meal than enjoying the handmade pastas at the bar at Tosca with some vino?

Last week I sauntered into the bar, only to run into the great sommelier Kathy Morgan who recommended some small courses for me to try, and matched them seamlessly with a well-priced bottle of Dolcetto d'Alba.

Grilled Mediterranean octopus with sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and a creamy sea urchin sauce was elegantly urchined, with the chanterelles hiding amongst the fork-tender octopus like little chameleons on a leaf. This was a fine dish, but nothing - nothing - could have prepared me for the two pasta courses that came next.

A little-known secret is that Tosca offers half-orders of their pastas while sitting at the bar, and this brings the price down to the $8-11 range for what are simply some of the greatest pasta dishes I have ever eaten. Please read the following aloud five times: Pillow-shaped braised duck ravioli with foie gras sauce. Pasta, and food in general, does not get any better than this dish. It was the kind of dish you bite into and you can't believe it's so good, and then you look down at your plate and see that there's an entire order left sitting in front of you, and you feel like a sexless man who just walked into a harem (p.s. here's a great definition of "Expert": a guy who knows 100 ways to make love but doesn't know any women.) And then the next dish, while not as elaborate, was every bit its equal - Kathy told me that they had some papardalle left from midday, and that they could make it in a Bolognese sauce (it was not on the regular menu, but apparently they feature the Bolognese sauce several times a week). You might not think to get something this simple after sloughing all the way to 11th and F Streets, but you should think again. I just can't imagine anything that's any better than this.

And the dessert! No way I wasn't going to order the Organic tomato marmalade sweet tart with ricotta-basil gelato and basil syrup (doesn't that "read" really well?) Well, thank goodnesss I did, because it was one of the best desserts I've had in a long, long time. It was a work of art on the plate, looking like a little pizza with the tomato marmalade spread on the tart, topped with the ricotta and basil leaves, surrounded by blueberries (trust me, they worked here) looking like little olives. The tragedy is that it is now September, the chef is back from a brief vacation, and almost surely this dish will be coming off the menu because the tomatoes will soon be gone, but if it's there, order it, order it, and the stars will align and everything will be right with the world.

Pasta. Tosca. Think of the two words together, always.

Rocks.

[raisab]

Mr Rocks,

Your description of the Foie Gras Ravioli did it for me! I will be there Saturday night!

I have always thought food was better than sex........nah.

[FunJohnny]

It's still open, still an institution. The other place you speak of is the Childe Harold in Dupont.

I would think their pastas do not stand up to Tosca.

←

You are correct about the relative merits of these institutions' pastas, but do Tosca's burgers stand up to the Childe Harold's?

[morela]

Repeat after me: my name is Don, and I am a risottoholic.

←

It's nice to know that things are just as good 365 days later (i got confused at first when I was reading). I can't believe the Tosca thread was left to rest that long.

Rest or rant, I guess. Restaurant.

[DonRocks]

It's nice to know that things are just as good 365 days later (i got confused at first when I was reading).  I can't believe the Tosca thread was left to rest that long. 

←

I can't really vouch for the menu as a whole, but I'm surpremely confident in the pastas and wines.

One thing I really wish for this forum is that people here wouldn't hesitate to chime in about restaurants currently going undetected here. How about resurrecting (or creating) a thread on (off the top of my head) Nora, Dish, Buck's, Heritage India, Equinox, Montmartre, Tivoli (on my short list, by the way), Black's, DC Coast, Meiwah, Kaz, Citronelle, Inn at Little Washington, L'Auberge Provcencal, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Clydes, Cafe Mozu, Elysium, Charleston (or for that matter, ANY restaurant in Baltimore), places in Delaware, the Eastern Shore?) There's enough critical mass here to begin/continue a separate thread on all of these places and many more - dozens more - disk space is not that scarce on eGullet's server, so why not let's do it? Yes, I could offer opinions on many if not most of these, but I'm not going to because this is not my forum - it's our forum.

Let's make this a welcoming destination for tourists, Google-searchers and anyone wanting to find a specific restaurant in a specific area. Wouldn't it be nice to have this forum both as a fraternity/sorority, and a welcoming, resourceful comprehensive repository of information for the newcomers? It's pretty much there, but it could be even more so, especially in terms of the latter.

If I'm to be accused of any long-term vision for this forum, this is the vision I want it to be. Not to mention I want this place to be a comfortable home for industry insiders to lend their valuable perspectives that we can never have - that is utterly essential, and I encourage more restaurant professionals to regsiter here and, if you're comfortable with it, to identify yourselves and post your opinions with reckless abandon.

These are my thoughts of the moment: a wealth of information and a virtural tavern, full of the joys of the table and their corresponding comraderie.

Cheers,

Rocks.

P.S. Maybe shouldn't reply to this, as this is more of an editorial rambling, and I'll probably delete this in a day or two.

[pastramionrye]

i started that thread a long time ago...and the funny thing was we didnt end up going to tosca...my gf back then is now my fiance...and we couldnt find any parking...got into a fight, threatended to not go out anywhere, and then stopped by palena (before i ever started working there) on our way home. funny stuff.

anyways i made it to tosca many months later and had a great lunch. Cesare knows his pastas. Its good to know you can grab them at the bar in smaller portions, because it makes it a more feasable option.

[JennyUptown]

I've demonstrated my willingness to revive old threads in the past. Alas, I can scarcely afford most of the places you mentioned, Don.

Anyway, I work right by Tosca, but have yet to visit. The knowledge that half-portions exist at the bar should change that fact soon. Thanks for sharing great info.

[eatdrinkummm]

"Scapinasch tradizionali dell' Alta Valsassina con ricotta e uvette al burro, salvia e Parmigiano"

Scribble this down on a piece of paper and then go to Tosca chanting it as you walk through the door, its a magic incarnation. If you don't have a pen, just keep repeating Scapa-noush.

Also, Kathy Morgan--Tosca's wine director--is top notch. She recommended the Cantina Tramin “Nussbaumer” (2002) for a seven-course lunch. Elegant, versatile. We followed it up with a half bottle of the Coppo Barbera d'Asti. Also Kathy's suggestion. Look for more of her influence on the fall list.

Go, what are you waiting for?

Scap-a-noush! Scapa-noush! Scapa-noush! Scapa-noush!

Derek

[frogprince]

One thing I really wish for this forum is that people here wouldn't hesitate to chime in about restaurants currently going undetected here.  How about resurrecting (or creating) a thread on (off the top of my head) Nora, Dish, Buck's, Heritage India, Equinox, Montmartre, Tivoli (on my short list, by the way), Black's, DC Coast, Meiwah, Kaz, Citronelle, Inn at Little Washington, L'Auberge Provcencal, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Clydes, Cafe Mozu, Elysium, Charleston (or for that matter, ANY restaurant in Baltimore), places in Delaware, the Eastern Shore?)  There's enough critical mass here to begin/continue a separate thread on all of these places and many more - dozens more - disk space is not that scarce on eGullet's server, so why not let's do it?  Yes, I could offer opinions on many if not most of these, but I'm not going to because this is not my forum - it's our forum.

i've long considered this curious aspect of our particular forum: some places certainly see more comment on this site than others (some have none) and there is nothing wrong with that at all (for they are delicious); people comment here on where they have been (well duh froggie). but we must be going to other places too, of this i am sure. its just for whatever reason, we dont think and write about them.

of this, i will be the first to admit to being guilty as charged; i have my haunts as does everyone else. ive been reluctant to posting such a comment because well... i cant really comment on other places as many circumstances, the most notable being of a pecuniary nature) prevent me trying places that i want go to (its fabulous not having a budget because who needs to budget something when youve nothing to budget ! oh the beauty!)

case in point: i LOVE tosca. that tomato tart keeps me sane in summer (the other seasons as of yet have no coping mechanism attached to them). i've been there... thrice. perhaps four. and ive never written a thing about it on here. and i dont know why.

so. not an attack or criticism of anyone or the current digital milieu in which we happily float in. merely an observation from a humble observer, eater, drinker, thinker and writer.

lovably yours

the regal amphibian