An authentic Italian experience: Michelin puts Redwood City’s Donato Enoteca on 2015 Bib Gourmand list

He’s a big fan of the food and the owner, Donato Scotti, who opened the Middlefield eatery almost six years ago. Chang’s favorite dish is the Agnolotti Del Plin, a ravioli with sausage and veal.

With an outdoor patio, banquet room and 150 Italian wines to serve, the restaurant has attracted a growing list of regular customers despite being surrounded by myriad construction projects, Scotti said.

Being named by Michelin as a 2015 Bib Gourmand restaurant also helps. The award recognizes Donato Enoteca as one of the best moderately-priced restaurants in the Bay Area. The Bib Gourmand award is given to restaurants that are “often of most value to a city’s residents, who regularly dine in neighborhood restaurants,” according to Michelin.

Scotti prepares “Italian food the way I think it’s supposed to be done.”

The restaurant also only serves Italian wines, said partner Eric Lecours and Enoteca literally means wine house.

It is also an “Italian-Italian” restaurant, not an “Italian-American” restaurant, Lecours said.

It is about creating an authentic Italian experience, he said.

The menu also changes weekly depending on what fresh produce is available. Homemade pasta, wood-burning oven pizzas, meat and fish courses dominate the menu which spans every region of Italy and incorporates fresh imported burrata, prosciutto, grappa and olive oil. Other specialties include sausage, mostarda and lamb prosciutto.

It will also have the occasional tasting menu that pairs six wines with five courses.

Business is the most brisk during dinner but is picking up at lunch.

Scotti expects the noon hour to pick up as the construction of more offices and apartments are finished and workers and residents move in.

Downtown Redwood City is becoming “a premier spot to spend an evening” and will get even better when a nearby parking garage opens, Scotti said.

Downtown’s transformation has been “fantastic,” he said.

“It’s taken an immense amount of effort in a short span to bring this area to life,” he said.

To learn more about Donato Enoteca go to http://www.donatoenoteca.com.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

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