Tuscan Raiders

Oven and Earth: Tuscano's pizza is cooked the traditional way - quickly and fiercely in a wood-fire brick oven

Looking back, we solidly put the blame on Giadda for making us take a second, longer look at the heaving, bouncing - er - bounty that is Italian cuisine. Few things give us fevered dreams like the image of oven-cooked pizza, thin with a crackly crust and smothered in cheese. Hell, Ryan even went so far as to delve into pie research, resurfacing with a top 10 gourmet pizza list last year. Alas, Tuscano hadn't opened yet when he was stuffing his face with mozzarella and pepperoni. Because really, it would be a shame to overlook this darling of a ristorante just a shy block away from Burgos Circle.

A high ceiling and spacious floor plan makes Tuscano the ideal dining place for after office hours meet-ups with friends, or family gatherings on the weekends

Fresh is big on the menu here - handmade noodles, sauces made daily, and gourmet ingredients picked ripe. Thanks to a wood-fire brick oven, the transformation from raw dough to crisp pizza happens in five minutes. There are other things to be had too like wild mushroom and mozzarella risotto balls - crisp golden brown spheres of flavorful arborio rice. Each lump is stuffed with a gooey mozzarella core. 

No need to be shy with your veggies either: the Tuscano signature salad mixes assorted greens with toasted pine nuts, grilled asparagus, stewed cinnamon apples, grapes, artichokes,and black olives. Everything's tossed in a light vinaigrette that helps enhance, not distract you, from the individual flavors. It's light, refreshing, and a good contrast to Italian cooking's richer dishes.

Tuscano will teach you to eat your greens with offerings like asparagus and egg pizza (right), and a lush signature salad with mixed greens, stewed cinnamon apples, and grapes.

Left: Baked Norweigan salmon on a bed of risotto. Right: The massive house pork chop is fork-tender.

Left: Sweet pear and gorgonzola pizza - one of the restaurant's unique offerings. Right: Watch the staff make fresh pizzas  by the brick oven. 

As for richer: Tuscano's Sweet pear and gorgonzola pizza brings together the natural sweetness of pears baked with sharp and salty gorgonzola cheese (also known as blue cheese) makes for a unexpected, but winning combination. Imagine the texture of cooked apples here. A bite invites you to playground of flavor - sweet, salty, smokey. You'll be surprised by how well the marriage of peaches and gorgonzola work on this pizza.


If you're like us, you'll be floored by their 14 kinds of gourmet pizzas including:

• Sweet Pear and Gorgonzola
• Asparagus and Egg
• Gamberetto
• Margherita and Goat Cheese
• Braised Lamb and Mushroom
• Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

Left: Pizza Gamberetto with baby shrimps, pesto, and white sauce. Right: Tuscano's high ceiling and spacious interiors draw in families and barkadas

Carnivore's won't be disappointed either with mainstays like lamb chops in balsamic jus, Milanese osso bucco, and balsamic-glazed pork chop (above). Perfectly seasoned and cooked, we love the taste of a perfect pork chop that practically melts in our mouths. The mushroom risotto it comes with provides a mildly sweet and mushy.

Our attention was easily won over by one of Tuscano's more peculiar specialties: beef stew casserole with chocolate. The meat practically falls apart as you slice it, and the sauce -- it's that perfect blend of bitter and sweet. If you've never thought of chocolate as a savory ingredient, this is the dish that will change your mind.

Left: Fisherman's Seafood and Black Ink Pasta. Right: Tuscano's beef stew casserole with chocolate.We're wondering if it's Hershey's or Cadbury.

And how could this be an Italian restaurant without cannoli? These spring roll-looking darlings stuffed with cream are an Italian staple. In this case it's drizzled with chocolate and mango bits. Stuffed beyond belief, you'll still be eyeing that last slice of pizza or final bite of cannoli. "Is it worth it?" you ask yourself. You bet it is.

Tuscano Italian Wood Oven Pizza and Restaurant
Unit 3 Ground Floor, Fort Residences Building, 30th Street corner 2nd Avenue
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Contact 4787503 or visit www.tuscanowoodovenpizza.com

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Going "Au Natural" at Sauceria

by Twinkle

Happy new year to all!!! After bidding adieu to a ‘food-ventful’ 2011, I’ve looked back and reflected on the yummiest bites I’ve come across during the year.  Aside from coming up with a list of 2011 favorites (watch out for that), I’ve also vowed to open up my eyes to healthier food horizons.  If you could have the yummy, with a little less of the health ouchies why not?

Jon and I found the middle ground where good food means both good for the body as well as the palate.  This healthy compromise comes in the form of the artisan restaurant Sauceria tucked away on Bonny Serrano (formerly Santolan).

When we first stepped in, it initially came across as one of those Japanese Italian restaurants that dish out big family servings and free bread.  Pastas, check.  Pizza, check.  Typical Italian fare? Definitely not.  One thing that sets Sauceria apart from the other restaurants is that they make almost everything from scratch – the breads, stocks, sauces, yogurt, and even the ketchup! 

Why go through all the trouble?  I got to talk the main man of the kitchen and he says “it’s artisan cooking. (Just like) grandma would create food like a craftsman who makes things from scratch.  The ability to create food from scratch using natural ingredients”.  Imagine a flavorful dish, sans MSG or any artificial additives.  Sauceria is all about fresh and nutritious food that tastes good naturally.  Does it actually make a difference?  You’ll have to taste it to believe it.  

 

Here are the items that top our list of favorites:

Pizza.  With so many options available in the metro, it would be hard to ‘wow’ a crowd.  Imagine my surprise when I fell in love at first bite.  Sauceria’s pizza left me wanting more, it hardly even mattered what topping you put on it.  This crust could do no wrong!  Top pizza honors go to the Salted Egg and Ampalaya, Charsiu, and the S’mores.

Salted Egg and Ampalaya Pizza (Php250)

Salted Egg and Ampalaya Pizza.  Admittedly, my first reaction was simply a non-committal ‘uhuh’.  Bitter much?  This unusual and slightly unappealing combination was actually a surprising favorite among the crowd. Pucker up and give ampalaya a chance.  You’ll never know, this veggie might just start to top your list!

Charsiu Pizza (Php 390)  and the S'mores Pizza (Php300)

Also try their salads and pastas and the appetizer to beat – the Tuna Tataki (Php340).

Sauceria's Pastas and Salads

Drinks to try would be the ginger soda, mango yogurt, and the Alamid coffee which is sourced from a Mt. Apo cooperative.

When asked to describe the food at Sauceria, we were given the simple answer -“nothing is an afterthought”.  With the extra care put into their food selection and preparation, I'd have to agree with that.

SAUCERIA

25 Bonny Serrano (formerly Santolan) Road cor Sunrise Drive, Quezon City (near Camp Crame)

Contact Number: (02) 584 3967

Email Address:  sauceria@gmail.com

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Viva La Vegan

by Ryan

Where's the beef?: A meat-free pizza party at Kitchen Revolution

Usually, the word 'vegan' gives me pause. I once spent two nights at The Farm at San Benito, and after several meals of coconut-derived bacon and crumbly mock tofu egg, I was knee-deep in withdrawal, hallucinating tap dancing Big Macs and pieces of sirloin that called out my name.

Come with me, Ryan, it said while showing its well-marbled rear. Meat is always fun!

Going vegetarian I can understand; there are certain virtues to skipping meat once in a while. While I don't mind the occasional faux pork banh mi at Wabi-Sabi, I've always thought of veganism as vegetarianism's pickier, snootier sister  -- one who does Bikram yoga, organizes weekly PETA rallies, and subsists on a steady diet of leaves and misery.

The party was over once the vegan arrived. Or at least that's what I thought.

Chef Marie Gonzalez runs Kitchen Revolution (KR), both a blog and a series of classes, which does much to elevate vegan and vegetarian cooking in the eyes of the meat-savvy public. "People have this impression about vegans and vegetarians; that they rarely eat, and it's all about Mother Earth and Sister Moon to them. That's not really the case here."

Chef Marie (middle) with some of the Kitchen Revolution students

By here she means KR's test site, a working kitchen in her Alabang residence that churns out surprisingly delectable dishes from ratatouille to toasted couscous to tofu barbecue on a weekly basis. Different cuisines or party ideas each class keep the curriculum fresh and dynamic. It's fun, interactive, and even the most adamant of carnivores are bound to be impressed. (Northerners need not fret; Marie held a cooking class at Teachers Village's Pipino, and plans to do so again in the near future.)

For her recent birthday, Marie threw a pizza party at her home, and in true KR fashion, made up for sausage and bacon in absentia with some marvelous substitutes: marinara, roasted garlic and eggplant, tofu ricotta, almond parmesan, and (gasp!) truffle oil among other things.

It's not everyday you go to a dinner party, and end up working for your own meal, but who's to complain? (Actually I did, because I chose a dry, whole wheat dough instead of regular dough, but that's besides the point.) Everyone had a great time especially Jella who practically wrestled with her pizza:

Pie's the limit: Guests' pizzas all lined up before the oven

In a culinary culture bombarded by quick-fix seasonings and fast food "infused" with so-called nutritional properties *cough*Jollibee chicken nuggets with carrots*cough*, it's reassuring to see that there are new options for people who want to eat better. I don't dream of that dancing sirloin these days, but of a crusty pizza laden with plump mushrooms, fat onion slices, and a bed of hot tofu ricotta drizzled with truffle oil no less.

From left to right: Marie, friends Earnie, Jella, Jerome, and Forkplay's very own Jon

As if that weren't enough, for dessert, Marie prepared an impressive vegan banana cream pie with a layer of speculoos. Speculoos is a peanut butter or Nutella-like spread made in Belgium that uses traditional gingerbread cookies as its base. It's almost unheard of locally, but if you have friends going to Europe or New York they must bring this back at all costs. It does wonders for waffles and toast, but banana cream pie is no less of a winner. It's hard to think something so good could also be guilt-free, but then again that's the whole preamble of Marie's classes.

Knee-quivering good speculoos banana cream pie

Contact Kitchen Revolution at +639178945086 or email info@kitchenrevolution.ph

Visit KR at http://www.facebook.com/kitchenrevolution or at kitchenrevolution.ph

Upcoming classes:

November

5th - Pinoy meets vegan

19th - Perfection by way of pizza

26th - Much ado about hors d'oeuvres

December
3rd or 10th - Vegan Noche Buena or Pies and cookies

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