Cafe Firenze

I've got to admit I love Fabio. I went to his cooking demo last month when his new book Fabio's Italian Kitchen came out. He made meatballs, breaded pork chops and tiramisu and all of them was out of this world. Who knew such simple dishes can be so delicious? I actually grew up as a vegetarian for family reasons (~16 years) and even though I trained myself to eat a bit of meat from time to time, I am still unable to ingest large amounts of it, especially red meat. However, the meatball he made was so good that I was already halfway done with it when he asked the crowd if anyone there was vegetarian. Wanting to finish the meatball and not come off as a hypocrite/fake vegetarian, I did not raise my hand, and boy am I glad I didn't, as I got to taste his amazing pork chop next. It was the bomb. I suggest everyone to make it at home (it's such a simple dish), I believe his recipe is online on Ciao Chow or in his new book.

Now, onto the restaurant, I must say I wasn't too blown away by the food my first time there. The food was definitely good, just not WOW. One thing that stood out was their heirloom tomato sauce on the ricotta spinach ravioli. That was my favorite of all the dishes there. Gosh, I really need to learn how to make that sauce.

My close second favorite was the pear and strawberry salad. Delicious! The salad had caramelized walnuts-YUMMYYY and poached pears. Enough said.

The truffle gnocchi was good, but the sauce was too heavy/oily. The gnocchi also didn't seem cooked thoroughly, so it wasn't even finished at our table. I brought the leftovers for lunch the next day and when it was heated, literally half the plate was oil. It was quite disgusting to see all that oil oozing out of my food. I could just see it clogging up my arteries.

I also got the mushroom risotto and it was a little disappointing too; the risotto wasn't cooked through and still a little raw/hard in the center, ruining the entire dish. I didn't want to send back the dish and make a fuss, but I know I would definitely not be getting it again.

I also got the lavender lychee martini and it was delicious! I am pretty sensitive to the taste of alcohol, and their concoction was not overly sweet, yet fruity. It was perfect. I also loved the fresh raspberries that was paired with it.

I went back to Cafe Firenze again to try something else after my first so-so experience, and I really wanted to give the gnocchi another try. I got the pesto one, and though the gnocchi itself was cooked great this time, it was again too oily. I was only able to eat half the plate since it was so heavy and when I heated up the leftovers the next day, surprise surprise, half the dish/volume was oil. I cook all the time and know they can make the gnocchi ten times better with a quarter of the amount of oil they currently use. Please make your dishes lighter so people can actually eat more!

I also must say customer service is excellent here. My water glass was always full, bread basket always filled, and had 5 different people ask how things are. My second time I sat at the kitchen bar and the young chef kept asking if everything was ok. I probably should have said something about how oily the food is, but I really didn't want to hurt the cutie's feelings.

5 stars for customer service and romantic ambiance. 3 stars for inconsistency and overall experience with their food.

Let me start by admitting my husband and I are both huge Ciao Chow fans, but if anything we feared that we would be disappointed with the reality since we'd built up "Fabio's restaurant" so much in our heads.  On the way there, dear hubby said "It'll probably suck".  But, no, Café Firenze exceeded our expectations in every way and even if this wasn't "Fabio's restaurant" it would have earned a solid five stars from us.

The appetizer of pancetta wrapped jumbo shrimp stuffed with gorgonzola was amazing - the best example of pork-wrapped shrimp we've ever had.  The pancetta works much better than regular bacon because it doesn't overpower the shrimp, and the little bit of gorgonzola gave it a delicious kick.  I would be tempted to request several orders as an entrée.  The appetizer comes with two shrimp over a nice garlicky spinach, but these were two of the largest shrimp I've ever had -- the jumbo was not an exaggeration as with some other restaurants.

For entrees, I had the butternut squash tortellacci and my husband had the short rib ravioli with taleggio cheese sauce which of course I had to sample.  Both were superb.  The tortellacci are very sweet, which I like, but if you aren't into sweet food you'll probably prefer the ravioli.  I loved the taleggio cheese sauce on the ravioli, I've only had taleggio cheese one other time but I adore it.  I would order either of these entrees again in a heartbeat.  Stepson the Elder had the tomato and buffalo mozzarella flatbread which he enjoyed, Stepson the Younger had a hamburger which looked very good, however I didn't try either one.  

For dessert, we sampled the flourless chocolate cake and the panna cotta with strawberries.  Both were excellent.  We also ordered an amarentini (sp.) which was a chocolate cherry martini, and as someone who is frequently disappointed by cocktails I have to say this is one of the best cocktails I've ever had.  It was delicious. If it hadn't been lunch time and we hadn't had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, I'd have ordered another one.  I just saw on their website that they have a pear martini, and I really wish I'd known to try that too as those are my absolute favorite.  If the amarentini is anything to go by their pear would be amazing.

The service, from the hostess to the waitstaff to the owner was fabulous.  As I mentioned, hubby and I are huge Ciao Chow fans.  That said, we did not have any expectation of meeting the Chef at his restaurant; we went on a Sunday for lunch and we know he's got several restaurants and a cooking show so figured that Café Firenze probably didn't see a whole lot of him these days.  Imagine my surprise when we saw he was sitting at the bar having a meal when we walked in!  I played it cool and did not attempt to engage him, as I was not wanting to be obnoxious or annoying, but when the hostess asked where we were coming from and I said "Texas", explaining that although I grew up not far from Moorpark, we came a bit out of our way for the trip in order to visit Café Firenze, she got Fabio's attention and he came over to say hello.  He was really down to Earth and friendly and came by again during our meal and offered to take a picture with us.  He seemed genuinely happy to meet us and he went out of his way to be nice to us, which was really delightful. We didn't push ourselves at him at all, he volunteered.  Apparently he wasn't scheduled to be in the restaurant that day and he left to catch a plane before we left, and if we hadn't arrived at Café Firenze nearly an hour before our scheduled reservation time we would have missed meeting him.  Which wouldn't have affected our rating at all, as the restaurant was top notch regardless, but really was a treat for us.

I've seen other people complain about the prices, but I'm not sure why folks would find Café Firenze overpriced for high quality, authentic Italian food.  Five of us ate (and two of us drank) for under $30 a person.  We've had far more expensive meals that were nowhere near as good.  Chef Fabio, once you're settled into the Siena Tavern and start looking for another new location, might I suggest the DFW area?  We have a dearth of great Italian food and we'd love to be able to dine at one of your restaurants on a regular basis!

Off beat location but a local gem.  Unexpected fancy decor.  Came in on a Sunday evening and restaurant was not crowded at all.  Good service.  Enjoyed the short ribs and GFs ordered the pork chops and veal.  It was very tasty and filling.  This restaurant is something you would expect in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills.  Highly recommend if you are in the Moorpark area.