Mattarello Cooking - Cucina Italiana — Restaurant in San Diego

I'll start with a disclaimer - this is solely regarding dinner, not the cooking lessons that take place at this establishment. We sort of observed those lessons from the flank but were not involved. Anyway, we've been passing this fairly new addition to the area for a while and decided to try it out. Came in at 7 and were immediately seated by the attending server who was both the host and the waitress. She cheerfully informed us of the menu, gave us some water and let us know that alcohol is not served here but we were welcome to pop in the liquor store next door and get a bottle - no extra charge. What a bargain, we thought, so we did get one. The interior resembles a mess hall or a college cafeteria but not in a bad way. It creates a nice, welcoming mood. Food here is an interesting phenomenon. The word my wife used was "original". It is obvious that someone is trying hard to make it look and taste like restaurant food but one of the elements is missing. For example, the ravioli were very nicely presented, but their "skins" were chewy even though they were not thick. The carbonara was a mass held together by a slightly grainy sauce - very edible but definitely not restaurant level, kind of like something one would produce after watching a how to YouTube video. Similarly, the pear and gorgonzola salad was sort of placed together on the dish but the ingredients just had no common purpose, lacking that final professional touch. Thanks to the corkage-free wine though, everything went down well and I can't say it was bad. Dessert was an attempt at tiramisu - a small Mason jar with a few crumbs on the bottom, topped with sweetened whipped mascarpone. Again, it was eaten but tiramisu it was not. The fruit crumble was sweet and had sliced apples. That's all I can say about it. All in all this was a good experience and even though I wouldn't repeat it, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to have an inexpensive dinner with an unmarked up wine of your choice :). I would stick to focaccia and antipasti and go for dessert to another place. This is definitely a restaurant that has its own place and public and I think it will...

I planned a surprise pasta making class for my wifes birthday at this place. We had about 14 people for the class and everything went great!

From communicating with one of the owners (Francesco) to the moment we sat down to eat our own made pasta, everything was delightful!

I first communicated with Francesco through Instagram about my plan and he was up for it. He even suggested where our guests would hide while me and my wife come in to surprise her. The class was fun and interactive, we learned alot about how to make pasta from scratch. We might have been a little bit chaotic because all of our friends was laughing and and not listening (I apologize to Francesco for that) but we really had a great time learning and getting our hands dirty. They also provide you with appetizers to eat while your dough sets, and dessert afterwards.

Our server, I forgot his name, was very courteous and polite. He served all of us like family.Everyone took care of us great! We felt at home In Mattarello!

Thank you Francesco and everyone working that night!! You guys made my wife very happy with her...

Ok, let me start by saying all the wonderful things about this place! The food that I've had in the past is awesome. And recently we took a class to learn how to make pasta and it was awesome! Also, there used to be a coffee shop here named Filter and that's where my husband and I met 🥰 however, today the 10th of November 2023 my husband and I came in to sit down and eat. We were turned away because there was a large reservation. Totally understand that that happens. What is annoying is there is not sign that says that anywhere online that I've seen. So I don't have anything to bad to say but that. We will be coming back most likely this following Wednesday but I refuse to call ahead since it isn't written anywhere. If it is written down here online somewhere I'll do it. So I'll come back with my husband and hopefully all is good. I might come back to make a follow up review afterwards

So my recent visit (11/26/23)with my husband we finally sat down for dinner. AMAZING. I had the pesto lasagna and my husband had the spinach and ricotta ravioli....