By Kim Fuller Published in EAT Magazine
There’s nothing that can fulfill an Italian craving quite like a family recipe of vitello picatta, especially when each bite seems to melt in your mouth alongside sips of a bright and structured red rosé wine from Montepulciano.
Toscanini has mastered this signature veal and pappardelle dish, but there’s so much on the menu to get excited about.
The restaurant has been under new direction with executive chef Paul Wade, with nearly four decades of professional culinary experience, for the past two years.
Wade is known for polishing out the tarnish in restaurants, or revamping them completely, and he certainly has helped Toscanini surface as a Vail Valley foodie destination.
Enjoy some bites of warm three-cheese and rosemary olive slices, served at the table, coated with a spread of sea-salted butter, or a dash of olive oil and balsamic. It’s not “filling up on bread” when the flavors are worth their own course.
Awaken your appetite with a glass of Italian Prosecco, and watch the bubbles rise to the top of the flute before flying up towards your tongue. All the wine at Toscanini is Italian, and the restaurant’s extensive and dynamic cellar is one of many reasons to visit.
Pair your bubbles with an antipasti of Iberico prosciutto — sliced thinly and ideal to share, the Spanish ham is served with green tomato mostarda, winter figs and pinecone bud syrup. The calamari salad can be shared or enjoyed alone, with spicy arugula that sits nicely beneath squid that’s been roasted to a hearty and pleasing texture.
Ocean inspiration comes through some more with the bucatini frutti del mare — a long, thin noodle topped with hand-shucked lobster and shrimp, with spinach, garlic, lemon, saffron and parsley. There’s a slight carbonara base to the sauce, creating some richness that’s perfectly accompanied by a glass of Calanchi di Vaiano chardonnay.
Winter skating scenes seen through the segments of rectangular window frames facing the Beaver Creek ice rink will remind you you’re in the mountains, but inside Toscanini, the Tuscan color palette and bottles of Barbera remind guests that Italy is not so far away.
Blackberry cobbler steals the finale, its sweetness coated with white chocolate and Vin Santo gelato. Sips of the same dessert wine Wade uses in the frozen cream makes each bite of this treat even more satisfying.
Get to Toscanini while Wade is still making magic in the kitchen. He said he is focused on building on and maturing the new-found service culture at Toscanini, and the core food foundations that he and his team have worked toward for the past two years.
“We seek to deliver to each and every guest experience without fail,” says Wade, “and just as importantly, we have a lot of fun practicing our craft.”
Price
Starters: $12-$23; Dinner Entrées:
$27-$39
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Ambiance
Classic Mediterranean-Italian with contemporary flare
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Signature dish
Vitello picatta
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Kid-friendly?
Yes
60 Avondale Lane | Beaver Creek Plaza | Beaver Creek
970.754.5590 | toscaninibeavercreek.com
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