Turci Pasta — Restaurant in Orlando

Arguably one of Orlando's best kept secrets. First a little background about myself to help. I was in the Hospitality industry for over 20yrs, including being a Chef, Server, and even General Manager, at assorted Fine Dining Restaurants around Orlando. I am also a Certified Sommelier. I happen to have a proud Italian Lineage, and usually when I want Italian food I simply make it at home, rather than go out to an Italian restaurant and be disappointed. Well I was FAR from Disappointed with my visit. I was so blown away from how genuinely fresh, creative, and good everything was that was placed in front of me. My wife and I decided to try this place out for our Anniversary, hoping to capture that fresh handmade Pasta Experience we had during our honeymoon in Italy. We ended up going a little overboard while ordering. We each ordered the special 3 course option, that was available (during the month of September) AND then we each ordered and additional Entree as we simply could not decide. To wash it all down with a beautiful bottle of Amarone.

I'd like to get the ONE and only flaw of the evening. When I ordered the wine the server returned with another server to present the wine and it had already been OPENED (out of line of sight). Normally, for me, this would have deducted an entire star. I was so very very tempted to deny it immediately and ask for a new bottle to be opened in front of me, because how am I to know that you have done anything with the $65 bottle of wine, before it came to me. But I wasn't trying to cause a scene, I tasted it, and it was neither bad, not did it taste like it was "married" with another wine. My professional opinion is that the server was most likely simply embarrassed that she, herself, could not "open a bottle of wine". I've seen other co-workers do this in the paste, and ALWAYS tried to correct them if possible, possibly allow them to "practice" by opening common "By the Glass" bottles that were kept at the bar. I'm sorry, to some it might seem snooty, but to me, I want to ensure I am getting what I am paying for.

Ok bad out of the way. I had an allergy concern and the Chef came to the table to speak about it, that THAT I am very grateful. Coincidentally, from our conversation I could tell he was first Generation Italian, and this got my hopes up quickly, and excited me for what we were in store for. The food came out and I took pictures of EVERYTHING, and have attached them for your enjoyment. My wife and I shared EVERY dish, so that we could get a consensus on take and taste on everything.

Apps: My wife order the Burrata Caprese and I the Truffle Ravioli. Upon first bite of both you can tell that both were hand crafted on premise. The Burrata was super fresh and the Ravioli had the Perfect puch of Truffle while still remaining delicate and delicious.

Entree: Heres where it gets interesting. I had order the Beef Wellington and the King Mushroom Tagliatelle. My wife had order the Pear Ravioli with a Wine Poached Pear, and the Purple Sweet Potato Stuffed Gnocchi. Visually all of these dishes were not only Instagram worthy for you Socialites. But again being made from scratch in house simply makes the WORLD of difference when it comes to Italian food. Our Consensus was the King Mushroom Tagliatelle was the star of the show and definitely brought in "Best Dish of the night", The Pear Ravioli probably comes in Second, but followed super super closely by the Beef Wellington (Truffle Oil and Pesto helped). The Sweet Potato Stuffed Gnocchi looked super cool, but we honestly could have skipped it. We could easily see it being shared as an "Appetizer" amongst 4-6 people. It was by no means in anyway "bad" I think we just had higher expectations of bursting flavor as so many of the other dishes previously had had. Maybe a concentrated Pomegranate or Lychee Drizzle would have topped this one off perfectly. Being an obsessed Japanese food and culture afficianado, I truly did enjoy seeing the Purple Sweet Potato used in other culinary creations.

Dessert: She order...

This restaurant decided to participate in Magical Dining Month this years, and after comparing all of the 100+ menus, I decided that this place was one of the top three restaurants this year. So I made reservations and made my way here. Tucked away in the little downtown-y area of College Park, there's a quaint pasta maker up front in full view of the dining room and through the window.

I got seated towards the back of the restaurant nestled in a table with a window mirage to my side, which was a really neat little decoration. The server came over and got my drinks, and then we looked at the menu, and made our choices.

Now this is my bad, but I took too long to review this place and now the online menus are gone, so I don't have exact food descriptions, but I can give you the big ideas.

Apps.

I got a nice bruschetta on a hearty, crisp baguette and a very tomato-heavy topping. I was a fan. I like a lot of tomato, and I like a bread that can stand up to the moisture. The only thing was that the balsamic drizzle needed a little more drizzle. That deep flavor contrasts nicely against the fresh tomato, but there needs to be enough to contrast effectively.

I also got some sort of mushroom ravioli. Four big raviolis with very little sauce of any kind, just a light brushing of olive oil, some seasonings, and few small slices of fresh mushroom on top. A nice app. Big fan.

Mains.

I had some sort of green tortellini with a nutty sauce of some sort. And I also got to try a mushroom pappardelle. Both of the pastas were an absolute breath of fresh air. I honestly don't get to eat a lot of pasta, but the pasta I do get is certainly not like this.

The pasta tasted really fresh. It had a good al dente bite to it that I really haven't ever had before. The noodles really held onto the sauce. Really neat stuff. And the sauces themselves were more than just another tomato sauce. They were obviously made from scratch, with a nice, deep nutty flavor, and a rich mushroom flavor.

These two mains were just really nice and if they were all I had, they would alone be worthy of five stars. Bravo.

Desserts.

Two Very different types of desserts here.

One of them was an excellent, delicate tiramisu that was dusted with cinnamon and cocoa. It came with a side of espresso or coffee or something that you could pour over the cake and soak the lady fingers yourself. Neat, interactive, delicious. I recommend.

The other one was a true test of will. A very rich, dense cheesecake. Covered in a thick, dense glob of Nutella. The first three bites were amazing. The next 17 were quite the chore. A delicious chore, but still a chore. Buyer beware.

Overall, this place was amazing. My Hispanic heritage means that I didn't really explore good Italian restaurants when I was younger, and I guess it set a precedent for my adulthood. But now, I've been inspired, and I will be hunting down the best Italian food known to man. At...

I have heard great things about this place, although actually going was slightly disappointing. I had made a reservation the day prior for two, when we arrived we were tucked in a back corner with the view of the closed deli next to the main restaurant, which had much darker and informal decor. Although the main restaurant had several open tables including table settings for only two. I could understand this for a walk-in trying to be convenienced, but not for somebody who has made a reservation.

Regarding food, They had a special going on which is a four-course meal base price for $59. Which as I wanted to try a variety of meals seems like a good idea. The entire meal was both excellent and somehow falling very short summing up to mediocracy, disappointing for the high price point at the end.

Some of the courses were very well put together and obviously felt homemade with a lot of love, the pesto caprese salad was definitely homemade with a wonderful pesto sauce. Although the Beretta was very light fluffy and flavorful it was a very large portion in comparison, and the whole caprese needed some sort of crunch with either some veggie or maybe a side of croutons.

The truffle ravioli was absolutely fantastic all around. Cutting into it initially to let it soak up the additional oils and truffle flavor absolutely wrapped the entire dish together wonderfully. The ravioli was firm with the cheese being very light and nothing overpowering any other flavor.

The beef Wellington was to say very disappointing, especially considering it was a $20 upcharge for the four course meal. I would not classify this as a regular Wellington whereas there is no rub on the beef itself before being wrapped with prosciutto and the dough which let it being very bland and missing a couple components where the prosciutto taking over most of the beef flavor. Although the beef itself was very tender, it had a refrigerated coldness in the center, and was definitely missing a brief seer on the outside to lock in some flavor. The four cheese gnocchi that came with the Wellington had a very good consistency and texture to the gnocchi but the cheese sauce did taste somewhat like Kraft.

Dessert was absolutely phenomenal with the limoncello cake. It was definitely fresh and made that day. It was very refreshing to have at the end of the meal.

The service was great, you could tell that the service staff made quick efforts to perfectly clean and set tables that had just finished and our server himself was very good, they all knew their jobs well and obviously took pride in giving great service. Our server was excellent even while serving our table side clay pot sea bass. He took great care and presentation and showed great care for the entire process.

I would definitely recommend you try this place for yourself, but be prepared to manage your...