Utopia and Italian Wines

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Not sure if I will go back to Utopia after this dinner. www.utopiarestaurant.net.                                    They raised the price $5 but I was at least expecting to have the potions the same. It seems to me everything was cut back. Even with tax and tip at $74 this was still not acceptable.

We started out with a Insalata di Mare. Shrimp, squid and scallops with an Italian parsley cucumber salsa.  Served in a small ramekin with greens.  Very small dice and only about 4 tablespoons of it. Flavor was good.  Wine was a 2014 Moscato d'Alba..

Second course is Grilled Mussels with Salsa Verde. It had a spicy pesto, caper sauce. The mussels were very good and had good flavor but only 3 small mussels made it to the plate. The wine was too rustic for me. A 2013 Fiulot, Barbera d'Asti.  It was aged in stainless but this wine really needed some oak to balance it.

Main course was Carne Battuta.  Seared beef tenderloin and spicy Italian sausage on a bed of risotto with grilled asparagus. From the description I thought we would be getting a piece of beef with sausage on the side. What they did is chopped up the tenderloin and mixed with the sausage to make a patty. About half way through I was starting to get tired of the flavor. The risotto helped but not enough.  The wine was the best of the evening. A 2012 Occhetti Nebbioli d'Alba. 
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Dessert was housemade Tiramisu which is always good along with a glass of Quady Starboard Batch 88 dessert wine..

Trying to get rolls or bread at Utopia is always a challenge. They are so skimpy with it. You always have to ask and the answer is always the same. "It is still in the oven"

With the very small portions and the downturn in quality this may be my last time at Utopia.  But our  table won 2 of the 3 wines that were given away. So that was a plus for the evening.