Once a sleepy crossroads, Old Orcutt now bustles with diners drawn to its ever-evolving mix of quick eats and fine cuisine. Among the newest culinary stars on the block, Trattoria Uliveto has been serving traditional Italian fare since August 2008, and continues to celebrate the enduring appeal of simple flavors gracefully rendered.
Housed in the former Wine Cottage Bistro, Trattoria Uliveto offers a delightful combination of Old and New World elements, from its warm, cozy interior and piped-in Italian music, to its sleek kitchen and eclectic wine list sporting a generous selection of local vintages. The effect, though distinctly Mediterranean, bears an amiable Central Coast touch.
Open for lunch and dinner, the trattoria has a menu offering tempting antipasti, such as rollino veneto (rolled pizza with braised radicchio, onion, smoked mozzarella, tomato, and herbs) and grissini (homemade breadsticks wrapped in prosciutto and soaked in sage butter). Insalatas include a crisp Caesar with homemade dressing; caprese, featuring fresh buffalo mozzarella; and carpaccio, made with arugula, capers, Parmesan, and tenderloin filet.
Pizzas—topped with sausage, mushrooms, eggplant, or even scampi—are baked in a wood-fired oven, while tender pasta runs the gamut from linguini vongole (clams) to spaghetti carbonara. Ravioli are handstuffed, and the lasagna is housemade.
Dinner entrées include salssiccia e fagioli (baked Italian sausage with cannelini beans), lombatta di maile (breaded pork chops), and mezzo pollo di funghi (roasted chicken with mushrooms and herbs), as well as daily specials.
“Our fish, veal, and pasta are the best in the area,” said Jim Spallino, who co-owns Trattoria Uliveto with his wife, Mary, and their business partner, Chef Alfonso Curti. “Veal is an Italian specialty, so we have several veal dishes, and we get our fish deliveries 20 to 22 times a month, so our fish specials are based on what’s fresh.
“Our food is moderately priced,” he added. “You can get out of here for what you’d pay at the Olive Garden, easily, and we have some great specials every day.”
For lunch, Trattoria Uliveto customers can feast on a variety of meal-sized salads, panini, or pasta, such as linguini scampi zucchini and gnocci gorgonzola. Entrées include sole piccata, veal funghi marsala, and pette di pollo valdostana (chicken breast baked with prosciutto and mozzarella), with no single dish priced at more than $15.
“The recipes primarily come from Alfonso or his family,” Spallino explained. “They’ve got a lot of [culinary] history. Grandma’s dessert, torta della nonna, is on the menu, and it’s been around for 50 years.”
A marriage of pastry cream, pine nuts, chocolate chips, and vanilla sauce, the torta della nonna delivers profound pleasure to those with a sweet tooth, while the lemon sorbet makes a fine palate cleanser. Also on the dessert roster are a singular tiramisu, chocolate brandy mousse, and a wonderful chocolate flourless cake topped with espresso sauce.
Out back, diners can relax with a glass of wine and watch the chef at work.
“We have a fabulous wood-burning pizza oven out there where we make tasty Italian pizzas,” Spallino said with a smile. “People love sitting at the bar and watching the chef make their pizza, throw it in the oven, and then cut it right in front of them.”
Spallino, a Central Coast resident since 1977, hasn’t always been a restaurateur. In fact, he still holds a full-time job running Great White Dental Lab in Santa Maria. He heads to the trattoria in the evenings when the workday is done.
“It’s simple how we got into the restaurant business,” Spallino said with a laugh. “For years, my wife and I looked for a good Italian restaurant in the area. When I met Alfonso, we talked about starting a restaurant, and that’s what we did.”
The Spallinos met Curti 4 1/2 years ago, while the chef worked at Grappolo, his family’s Santa Ynez restaurant. A native of Calabria, in southern Italy, Curti immigrated to the United States in the late 1990s, bringing with him his favorite traditional recipes and developing others based on fresh, local ingredients.
“I’m really pleased with what Alfonso and his kitchen crew have done here,” Spallino said. “We just want people to have a good time, a good meal, and escape for a couple of hours. The world’s a tough place sometimes, and we wanted to create a local place, where, if you’re a regular, you’re recognized, and you can eat some really good food out of a clean kitchen and have a great time.
“Things have gone well,” he declared, “and we’ve had so much support from the locals. The response has been great, and we’re very thankful for the incredible repeat business. This is just so much fun!”
K. Reka Badger’s columns have support from Italian restaurants. E-mail comments or ideas to rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Apr 23-30, 2009.