Antonello Ristorante - Santa Ana

Saturday night after Cayla and I got back from Santa Monica, we met my parents for dinner at Antonello Ristorante. It's located across the street from South Coast Plaza.  I've been coming here with my family since I was born, although I hadn't been there in years.  The best way to describe it would be an old world fancy Italian restaurant where a lot of the waiters are from Italy.

(Photo from web site)

To drink it was Makers Mark on the rocks for me, and the rest of the party went with red wine.  We started out by sharing the Prosciutto.  It's a good portion of Imported Italian Prosciutto served with Parmigiano Reggiano and Cerignola Olives.  Italian Prosciutto is the best in my opinion and it was very good.  Much less salty that Canadian or American Prosciutto.  The cheese was also very good, not too over powering in the parmigiano flavor.

Next it was a Caesar Salad.  The salad was good, nothing too special about it.  I liked the crunchy homemade croutons, they were very good!  The Caesar dressing was good, not too over powering like some restaurants are.

For my main course I went with one of their specials, the Ossobuco.  This was EXCELLENT!  The veal was so tender you didn't even need a knife.  It was slow cooked in a light red sauce and served with pasta as a side.  I can't say enough how tender this dish was.  It melted in my mouth!  The best part of course is the marrow in the center of the bone.  Ask for a cocktail fork to get it out of the bone more easily. So good!

For desert it was the Crostata di Mele, which is fresh slices of Granny Smith apples and homemade vanilla custard baked in a pasta frolla shell served warm with vanilla gelato.  This was an EXCELLENT dish.  It was almost like an Italian take on apple pie.  It had the perfect cinnamon and sugar ratio in the spiced apples.  On top of the pastry there was a hard candy that was made out of sugar and was like an art piece on it.  VERY GOOD!!!
 

      

(My dad is smelling it since he can't eat it due to a diary allergy)

We also shared the Grand Marnier Soufflé for dessert.  This was a very good soufflé, but not the best I’ve ever had.  It had a good Grand Marnier flavor to it, but it was nothing spectacular.  The texture could have also been a little more flaky.

All in all this is a great restaurant and a good place to go if you want a fancy Italian meal.  I would return.