Tutto Mare shares the bounty of the sea

S.J. Cahn

It might not be right or polite, but I tend to think of the San

Joaquin Hills Road side of Fashion Island as the “back side.” I --

and I suspect most others judging by the traffic I hit -- tend to

enter the shopping/eating magnet from Coast Highway.

But there’s nothing wrong with this other side; it has as many

gems as the rest of the circle. And certainly among those shining

spots is Italian seafood restaurant Tutto Mare.

Tucked off to the side of Neiman Marcus, Tutto Mare offers a full

variety of dishes that nicely complement its full variety of seating.

The best place to sit is the atrium, especially on a nice summer

evening.

And while I’m essentially ordering readers to a certain section of

the restaurant, I’ll put in one more demand. If you in any way like

seafood (and if you don’t, then this is not the place for you), order

the frittura di calamari appetizer ($10.50). When the dish arrives in

its huge martini-style glass, you will understand why. The calamari

is crisp with light batter that doesn’t hide the taste. Load up on

the marinara sauce that comes with it. It’s better than the lemon

aioli.

This appetizer also offers a taste of the big things to come,

literally: Tutto Mare’s portions don’t skimp. You get what you pay

for here.

And we paid for the riccioli d’oro al tre cro ($16.95), the

grigliata mista di pesce ($23.95) and the zuppa di pesce ($26.50),

which is a dish our server recommended.

The zuppa -- basically bouillabaisse -- had a fun presentation,

unless you don’t want to remember that your meal once was alive. The

beady eyes of the shellfish used to decorate the dish were a bit

disconcerting. The mix of fish, which included lobster and crab, was

nicely done and plentiful. The tomato-based sauce was thinner than

most bouillabaisse. While good, it could have been spicier.

A slight lack of spice was the only thing missing in the riccioli,

which was billed as being spicy. But the angel hair pasta was cooked

close to perfectly, and the lobster and crab-based sauce was

flavorful -- in fact, much more spice might have drowned out the

taste. Perhaps a different description, rather than a change of

ingredients, would be in order.

The grigliata combo plate included prawns, calamari and a

restaurant choice of fish. It comes without a sauce, which turned out

not to be needed as each fish was flavorful on its own. The side of

potato wedges earned some happy comments as well.

During an earlier visit, I had the margherita pizza ($10.75).

While I’ve failed in my attempts in America to find a margherita

pizza like the one (OK, two, I went back to the place) I found in

Rome, Tutto Mare’s was among the tastiest I’ve had. A nice light

tomato sauce without too much cheese, all atop a crisp crust.

Dessert, I am happy and full to say, was excellent. From a

plentiful choice of items, we settled on the flourless chocolate cake

and the tiramisu. Of special note was the sauce with the cake, which

was thick and delicious. The tiramisu was nice and light, as it

should be, with plenty of flavor.

Our service was OK, not terrific, especially given that it was not

terribly crowded while we were there. One note of warning: apparently

they don’t have free refills on sodas, as one of us drank $7.50

worth.

But, we agree, we’d quickly go back for appetizers and dessert.

* S.J. CAHN is managing editor of the Daily Pilot. He is filling

in for Kathy Mader, who is on vacation. Her column appears every

other Thursday.