Scott Joseph, Orlando Sentinel Restaurant Critic: ONLINE REVIEW

November 11th, 2007

College Park and Adriatico are a perfect match. This Orlando neighborhood certainly has some good, or good enough, restaurants. But it has been missing a quaint trattoria, the sort of Italian place with a mom-andpop feel, one that's comfortable, homey and immediately familiar. A welcoming spot where the food is good but beside the point.

That's Adriatico.

The "Mom and Pop" owners are Marco and Rosetta Cudazzo. She runs the dining room, greeting guests with a matronly welcome, and he does the cooking, demonstrating the skills he most recently plied at the estimable Terramia, a multiple Foodie winner, and at Antonio's La Fiamma in Maitland before that.

Not everything here is perfect, but much of it is quite good. It's the kind of food that causes strangers to speak to one another (well, the tables are so close together that cross-table communication is easy) and make recommendations.

That was the case on my first visit.

As I sat reading through the dinner menu, I heard a voice nearby ask if I like risotto. I looked up to see if a waiter was speaking, but it was the gentleman dining at the next table with his wife. He asked again, and I admitted that I do indeed like risotto.

It's wonderful here, he said.

I found the listing on the menu, risotto alla pescatore ($20.50), arborio rice with mixed fresh seafood in a light tomato broth. I saw no reason to look any further.

Unfortunately, the risotto was the only thing I tasted in all of my visits that was a total failure. The rice tasted as though it had been boiled, and too long at that. And the seafood seemed to have been added at the finish, plopped on top of the rice with sauce.

By then the couple had left, but if I should see them again, I would suggest they try the scallopine alla Sienese ($21.50), two tender medallions sauteed in white wine and butter, topped with a thin slice of prosciutto di Parma and melted fontina cheese, served with fresh sauteed spinach.

Or the pollo al limone ($10.50) that I had on a luncheon visit. A simple dish, it featured two pounded chicken breasts in a thick and rich sauce that was buttery and tangy from the lemon juice and the piquant capers that topped the meat. And penne boscaiola ($9.50), another lunch choice, with large tubes sauteed with chicken and wild mushrooms with prosciutto and tomatoes.

The chicken was tender, tasting as though it had been poached, and the mushrooms had a wonderful fatty mouthfeel.

I would counsel against the swordfish ($24.50) I had as a special one evening. The preparation was good, with cherry tomatoes and basil in a creamy sauce. But the fish was overcooked, and with such a thin fillet how could it have been anything else?

I could have made a meal of the capesante alla mostarda appetizer ($12.50), three huge scallops sauteed with shallots and brandy in a creamy sauce tinged with a touch of mustard, served over fresh spinach. One could want little more when the appetizer is this good.

The classico antipasto misto ($14.50) was a thoughtful selection of salami, prosciutto, cubes of hard parmesan, roasted peppers, baby artichokes and a handful of some of the tastiest green olives you're likely to find.

Desserts seem an afterthought, with tiramisu the only in-house preparation.

But it was a good tiramisu ($6), creamy and delicious. A chocolate pyramid ($7) satisfied my companion's sweet tooth.

Service was amiable, accommodating and professional. All showed good menu and wine-list knowledge.

Adriatico occupies a small, intimate space. Walls are brick on one side and fieldstone-arched mirrors on another.

I liked the touch of moss growing between the stones. Tables are covered with crisp white linens, even at lunch, and soft lighting is complemented by the vocal stylings of Sinatra, Bennett, Martin and others.

Adriatico may not be perfect, but I think if I lived in College Park, I'd find myself strolling that way often, just because it's the sort of place you want to be.

Fayiaz Kara , Orlando Weekly: ONLINE REVIEW

April 17th, 2008

Seafood shines at charming College Park spot.

With stints at Antonio’s La Fiamma in Maitland and Terramia Winebar in Longwood, Adriatico chef Marco Cudazzo has played a significant role in pleasing local palates with a penchant for pasta and rustic dishes from the old country. Now, along with his charming wife Rosetta, Cudazzo brings the flavors of his native Abruzzo, a coastal regionshoring the Adriatic, to College Park’s savvy denizens, most of whom are no strangers to authentic Italian cuisine.  Not surprisingly, Adriatico’s menu slants toward the sea, not the Abruzzo’s mountainous interior, where lamb, mutton and diavolicchio peppers typify the Abruzzese style. No, it’s all about the seafood here, and the calamaretti alla Napoletana ($8.50), ringlets and tentacles of small, tender squid sautéed in a spicy tomato sauce, is an antipasto worth diving into. The meat is faultlessly firm and doesn’t suffer from the rubbery texture that results from overcooking, while the sauce is an ideal lure for the complimentary bread. 

I took great pleasure in listening to my waiter’s thick, rolling lilt, though I’m sure he felt like driving his giant fist into my skull after I asked him to repeat the evening’s special three times.  When I finally understood that the white striped bass ($27.50) was pan-fried with portobello mushrooms, and not pot-bellied monsoons, I couldn’t say no. The enormous platter contained a thick fillet garnished with baby romas, yellow tomatoes and two crunchy jumbo shrimp in addition to the ’shrooms, all slicked in a garlic white wine sauce. The flavors worked well, but I would’ve enjoyed the fish more had it not been served tepid. 

Terrestrial items also get a chance to shine, and the indisputable freshness of the creamy tomato soup ($5.50) made it a bowl full of magical slurps, with heavy cream and basil adding texture and pungency to the ruddy orange bisque. Carciofini “mamma mia” ($8.50), baby artichokes sautéed in olive oil, garlic and mint, were tender for the most part though a few stringy stragglers found their way into the garlicky sauce. The astringency of the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, unfortunately, overpowered the essence of mint, making the dish a slight disappointment.  A comforting main like gnocchi della casa can be enjoyed with a choice of three sauces: marinara ($11.50), meaty Bolognese ($14.50) or gorgonzola cheese ($16.50). No matter the sauce, the potato dumplings were perfectly pillowy, and if you opt for the gorgonzola, the rich sauce is as aromatic as it is fulfilling. 

Italian-imported lemon sorbetto ($7) bests house-made tiramisu, partly for its refreshing tang and partly for its lemon-peel shell, though either will ensure your meal ends on a sweet note. 

Wine racks, exposed brick walls and the glow of candlelight on fresh linens create an oasis of calm, though the serene ambience also extends outside, where patrons can dine by the light of tiki torches along Edgewater Drive. Service is purposefully friendly and leisured, but can seem a little too leisurely when glasses are left unfilled and when lags create uneven pacing. Nevertheless, the trattoria’s genuine charm ultimately wins over the hearts of diners, and the competent execution of the seafood-leaning menu is sure to make Adriatico a fixture in the neighborhood.  

Rona Gindin, Orlando Magazine:

December 2008

In College Park, a Little Italy

The year-old Adriatico Trattoria Italiana has an Old World feeling and authentic flavors.

With traditional design elements like arched mirrors and white tablecloths, and several menu items so familiar that you’ll feel you’re back in the Italian restaurant your parents took you to as a kid, Adriatico feels like a College Park stalwart, not a newcomer.

A small, narrow restaurant warmed by walls of both brick and stone, the year-old Adriatico is the classic mom-and-pop Italian restaurant. When I arrived one Saturday evening, co-owner Rosetta Cudazzo, a native Sicilian, was bustling around the dining room, smiling genuinely at guests as she rearranged tables following a large group’s departure. In looks, in dress, even in the way her hair was pulled back, you can see that she has an Old World heritage—and warmth.

Behind the scenes, her husband, Chef Marco Cudazzo, was cooking the foods of his homeland. He is a native of Ortona, Italy, in the central, Abruzzi region. While he maintains Abruzzi’s signature emphasis on, as Rosetta puts it, “fresh, simple ingredients done well,” some of the menu comes from other regions of Italy. The bill of fare offers classic favorites like a Bolognese ragu, which is a tomato sauce flavored with ground meat, and veal in a marsala wine sauce, as well as more unusual items.

Some of the food is truly terrific; some could be better. If you enjoy vegetables, begin your meal with carciofini Mamma Mia. It’s a plate loaded with baby artichokes, most chunks temptingly tender, that have been sautéed Roman-style with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and a subtle dash of mint. Slivers of garlic and small bits of sun-dried tomato added zip. Don’t rush to order the mozzarella caprese, however. This well-known dish is as simple as it gets and it’s often a reliable indication of a kitchen’s finesse: tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil are layered like a Napoleon and drizzled with olive oil. Here the olive oil was masterful: although unadorned except for salt and pepper, it had a lively zing. But the tomato wasn’t vine-ripened to perfection; it was just tomato. The mozzarella, although an imported buffalo variety, was  decent but not distinguished.

Adriatico has an interesting assortment of pastas. The gnocchi is made in house from Marco’s mother’s recipe, but the kitchen had run out of the potato dumplings during my visit. The restaurant is one of the few in town to offer rigatoni mixed with braciola, which is a ribeye steak rolled with parsley, garlic, pine nuts, mortadella and parmesan cheese.

I strongly recommend the scaloppine alla Sienese as an entrée. Two large, tender veal cutlets are topped with a gentle layer of the Italian ham called prosciutto di Parma and then a creamy layer of melted fontina cheese. A mound of absolutely perfect, freshly garlic-sautéed spinach sits beneath the meat, and a white wine sauce finishes the dish. It’s served with a mound of mashed potatoes and a helping of sautéed vegetables that were no better than most cooks could make at home.

I was encouraged to see pork pizzaiola on the menu. Few restaurants in town offer pizzaiola, an exceptionally bold red sauce distinguished by the welcome addition of oregano as well as, at Adriatico, shallots, green onions and capers. The sauce’s flavor was right on target for every pizzaiola memory I have, although it was a bit thin. But the pork tenderloin, though flavorful, was tough. This dish, too, was served with mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables.

For dessert, I tried the cannoli, which our waiter told us was homemade. Turns out he got that wrong. The only dessert made in-house is tiramisu. Nonetheless, the cannoli was a winner. The outside tube-shaped cookie was firm and flavorful, the inside ricotta-based creamy filling luscious. In addition, Adriatico imports four desserts from Italy. I tried the chocolate caramel pyramid and found it grainy, but my dining companion enjoyed the cocoa-dusted chocolate mousse-like sweet.

I won’t let one server’s lack of knowledge about the menu define the restaurant’s service, but the Cudazzos need to screen or train their staff better. Our waiter was of no help with our questions. 

What our waiter lacked in experience, the owners more than made up with their positive attitudes and that delicious veal and spinach dish. The menu is solid and the prices are attractive. If the restaurant nuges its dishes up a notch and trains its help properly, it should become the old-timer it already resembles.