Perhaps it is a sense of gratitude for the growing number of restaurants in Weston that gives Il Toscano’s crowd of regulars its sense of la vita forte; but whatever the explanation, the restaurant is an overwhelming success, managed by a team that has done it before. The same group that owns the popular Mezzanotte restaurants in the tri-county area established Il Toscano, but the Weston venue has some added attractions.
One, and it is not at all to the benefit of the food, is the restaurant’s morphing into an increasingly loud disco after 10, complete with currently trendy retro-’70s music. It is challenging to simultaneously do the hustle while tucking into a plate of salmon carpaccio ($8.95) or a large bowl of penne with garlic, oil and spinach ($12.75). Combine that with the staff’s inability to maintain a brisk pace with the crowd and one has to either love disco or love Toscano’s pasta to put up with the delays.
Il Toscano is a relatively large restaurant with an attractive earth-toned color scheme and an active bar toward the front. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s hard surfaces and visually impressive high ceilings with large curved panels tend to magnify sound so that an already noisy restaurant can seem almost deafening even when it’s not full. You can escape to the banquettes along two sides, but I could still easily hear conversations and laughter at tables in the center of the restaurant. There is a theory popular in some restaurant circles that a high sound level promotes the impression of conviviality. Here, it may help bar sales, but it doesn’t promote the sort of romantic dining the restaurant might otherwise become famous for.
The menu at Il Toscano is more pan-Italian than recognizably Tuscan, but it is attractive and gives diners many options. Carpaccio is a house specialty — either beef with mushrooms and arugula ($7.95), or three fish options: salmon, swordfish and tuna ($8.95). All are supremely fresh and flavorful. I’ve also enjoyed firm homemade mozzarella with prosciutto and roasted peppers ($6.95), grilled squid with peppers ($5.75) and eggplant baked with mozzarella and marinara sauce ($6.50).
Pastas, alas, are often overdone. There are some good combinations, but my linguine with mushrooms, garlic and oil ($12.50) and penne with eggplant and flakes of aged ricotta ($13.25) were both overcooked on one recent outing. A bowl of risotto with shrimp and a large scoop of goat cheese ($16.50) gave every indication of having been cooked too quickly, resulting in mushy grains of rice with a rock-hard center. Plump, freshly made agnolotti with ricotta and spinach ($12.95) were an improvement. The timing problem, which may have been magnified by sluggish service, is vexing because there are some appealing combinations available, including fettuccini with peas and mushrooms ($11.95), linguini with white or red clam sauce ($13.50) and fettuccini with a sauce of tomatoes and pesto ($13.25).
The timing also affects the seafood dishes I’ve tried at Toscano, including Chilean sea bass ($20.50) that was overcooked and bordered on mushy. Other seafood options include poached salmon with a flavorful mushroom and light cream sauce ($18.95) and a very nice grilled tuna fillet ($19.95). The grilled steak with green peppercorns is good ($22.75), but my veal with mushrooms was drowned in a sweet and bland brown sauce that contained more than the promised “touch” of Marsala ($17.95). A safer bet for veal lovers is the lombata, a grilled, flattened veal chop topped with a radicchio-rich salad ($20.50).
Most diners at Il Toscano seem to accept that a meal there is as much a visceral as a culinary experience. In other words, the food isn’t the only reason to go. The problem for the food lover is that the menu is a good foundation and there’s a great and reasonably priced wine list in place. Only the execution lags, and a good deal of that may be attributable to difficulties managing the timing by packing the restaurant with seats. In the tradeoff between volume and quality, I think Il Toscano leans the wrong direction.
M.L. Warren is a pseudonym to protect our dining critic’s anonymity. Please phone in advance to confirm information on hours, prices, menu items and facilities. For restaurant review consideration, please fax a current menu to 954-356-4386.
