Angelina's Spring Menu Preview

Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana

8573 Irvine Center Dr.

Irvine, CA 92618

Spring is not only the season of rebirth, rejuvenation, and renewal, it's also the season when restaurants wake up from their winter slumber and debut new menu items. Even though we don't have much of a winter in OC, chefs like to roll out new menu items to entice guests back into their restaurants after they have already forgotten about their new year's resolutions of dieting and saving money. Spring menus often consist of lots of produce and lighter meals. I was beyond excited when I was recently invited to try some of the new spring menu items at one of my favorite restaurants, Angelina's in Irvine.

Angelina's holds a pretty special place in my heart. Before I had eaten here in late 2016, I had never really been a big fan of Neapolitan pizza. It was always soggy in the middle and lacked the cheesiness and hefty toppings of my beloved Americanized pizzas that I grew up with. The pizza I had on that night made me a convert to authentic style pizza from the birthplace of pizza, Naples. That night I also became a fan of Angelina's, and I was excited to make a return visit.

There's a new chef in the kitchen since the last time we were here. Chef Jonah Amodt, formerly of Andrea at Pelican Hill Resort now takes the culinary reigns at Angelina's. Together with owners Filippo and Sho Fusco, and front of the house presence, Antonio Bevacqua, they have created a great team which has the dining room and bar area full even on weeknights. Not such an easy feat, especially with all the dining options in this Los Olivos Marketplace, and when you consider that the Irvine Spectrum is a stone's throw across the 405 Freeway.

Angelina's is, of course, famous for their pizzas, but they are so much more than that. Fantastic appetizers, farm fresh salads, amazing pasta dishes, and more substantial entrees are all winners here. Happy hour draws plenty of guests, with a plethora of food options that are $8 and under, not to mention beverage specials that include selected beers for $5 and wines and cocktails for $6, which is a great deal for this neighborhood.

This new spring menu makes its debut this week at this Irvine Angelina's location, as well as the Dana Point venue, which is situated in the same shopping center as Gelson's, right where Crown Valley and PCH meet. I have yet to visit the Dana Point spot, but since it's pretty close to where we live, it's just a matter of time before we make it there. For now, let's take a look at the new offerings from Chef Jonah's spring menu.

Starting things off for us on this evening was one of Angelina's new appetizer offerings, the Burrata di Primavera (Spring Burrata). This starter just screamed spring with its lighter than usual take on burrata. The very well done burrata was joined by some Engish peas, fava beans, and accentuated with hints of mint and lemon. When I read the description before having this, I was a little skeptical about how this appetizer was going to work out, but it ended up being delicious. The fava beans and peas went well with the soft cheese, and the lemon and mint came through at the end of each bite.

I realize that octopus is not for everyone, but ever since I had it barbecued a few years ago at another food event, I have become a fan. I'm also a fan of the incarnation here, Polipo e Ceci. In case your Italian is a bit rusty like mine, this translates to octopus and chickpeas, which also came with tomatoes and a sprig of marjoram. The octopus was nice and chewy, but not in a bad way. I liked the earthy feel of the chickpeas as it interacted with the acidity of the tomatoes and the hint of marjoram that wafted through this dish.

Chef Jonah had everyone at our table all excited with this Gnocchi al Sugo di Carne (Gnocchi in Meat Sauce), and for good reason. It was out of this world good. Gnocchi bolognese topped with burrata and some basil. The meat sauce on this was what made this for me. I could have eaten this sauce on an old shoe and it would have made it delicious. The gnocchi was obviously made fresh, the burrata added a nice creaminess, and I was sad this was only a tasting of the new menu because I could have devoured a lot more of this. A reason to come back soon I guess.

Not from the new menu, but I was pretty stoked to see these old favorites appear before us. The sight and taste of the Margherita Pizza is enough to make anyone's days infinitely brighter. Buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano Pomodoro sauce, some fresh basil, and finished off with some extra virgin olive oil is a classic. The toppings on this pizza are excellent but don't sleep on the dough here. It has a great chew to it, it's sturdy enough to hold the toppings, and there are no wet parts to it, which is one of my major problems with Neapolitan pizzas I've had in the past. The Polpette al Sugo (Meatballs with Sauce) is one of the best in OC. They are served in a cast iron skillet, topped with burrata and basil, and drenched in the same incredible Pomodoro sauce that the pizza uses. Very tender meatball with a nice blend of meats make me wish that they'd put a meatball sandwich on their menu someday. If you are ever reading this Chef Jonah, let's try to make this happen.

Next up they trotted out two new entrees for us on this evening, starting with this Halibut di Stagione (In Season Halibut). They use Alaskan halibut for this one, which is seared delicately, then paired with a creamy leek puree, sauteed oyster mushrooms, and wild ramps. Up until this evening, I had no idea what wild ramps were, and after a quick Google search, I learned that they are a wild onion from either eastern Canada or the eastern part of the US. See, you can learn new stuff on a restaurant blog. This halibut was buttery soft and I loved the mushrooms and wild ramps that came with this. The leek puree was good, but I could have used even more of it. Chef Jonah definitely has command over his sauces.

Very fitting that this would be the grand finale on this evening, as there was an audible gasp among the food writers when the Costole di Vitello (veal ribs) were placed in front of us. This veal chop was had a lot going on with it; a charred rapini puree, apricot mustard, and it was served alongside some potatoes. I'm not sure who Angelina's meat purveyor is, but this was some good quality veal. Tender, with a nice charred crust to it, and the bone added an even deeper flavor. Veal lovers shouldn't miss this one.

By this time of the evening we were all feeling rather full, some of us full all the way up to our eyeballs. I was pretty happy to see that we were going to have a light finish to our meal. Dessert was a Zabaglione al Rabarbaro (rhubarb zabaione). My only brush with rhubarb has been at Mrs. Knott's, and this was nothing like that. The zabaglione is a kind of pudding made with eggs, sugar, and wine. It was served in a dessert cup with raspberries and blackberries. I did not get too much in the way of rhubarb, but it was a nice and easy end to our evening.

I guess I should have mentioned it before, but this was a tasting menu and just miniature versions of what you will get when you order these new items off of Angelina's spring menu. I'd say that Angelina's is pretty lucky to have secured Chef Jonah late last year, and he's lucky they have allowed him to have free range in the kitchen to create these excellent seasonal menus. Angelina's will always be known for their pizzas, but you dig a little deeper and you never know what other treasures you will find here.

I'd like to thank everyone at Angelina's for the wonderful meal and fantastic hospitality on this evening. Everyone from the owners, Filippo and Sho, Chef Jonah who took the time to come out and chat with us about his food and vision for this restaurant, and the servers and food runners who all seemed so proud of what was coming out of the kitchen for us, I thank you all for such a wonderful experience. Lastly, thanks to Sophia Paliov from SPPR for the invite to this very memorable dinner. Thanks so much for including me on this evening. Everything was wonderful.

For more information about Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana, head to their website here: http://www.angelinaspizzeria.com/

Acquiring A Taste for Authentic Italian at Angelina's

Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana

8573 Irvine Center Dr. 

Irvine, CA 92618

I think I've written this before, but going out with fellow food bloggers is kind of tough. We all have our list of restaurants that we want to try, and we almost fight for who will pick the restaurant we eventually end up eating. This is what happened when we went out with our friends Tom, of the wildly popular Tom's Foodie Blog, and Daniele of Dani's Decadent Deals. They asked for a list of places I wanted to go to, and then Daniele picked her own place, which just so happened to be Angelina's Pizzeria.

I must admit that I had never heard of this restaurant before. After Daniele told me where we would be eating, I did a little research and was surprised that I had not heard of Angelina's before. They have been open in Dana Point for close to four years now, but they really started to get a lot of press when they opened up this new Irvine location, which is in the new Los Olivos Marketplace, just across the freeway from the Irvine Spectrum.

This new location of Angelina's has been open since April and received a glowing review from one of the most trusted restaurant reviewers in OC, Edwin Goei, from the OC Weekly. He really raved about this place, so I was put a little more at ease by Daniele's selection this evening. Along with Edwin's glowing review, Angelina's has also been mentioned numerous times in Modern Luxury Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, and even a review by the Gossiping Gourmet in the Huntington Beach Independent.

Angelina's is run by a pair of Italian guys. Chef Sandro Nardone formerly of the Naples area heads the kitchen, while Antonio Bevacqua is the Chief Operating Officer, and he hails from Tuscany. Professionally he spent time at Il Fornaio, along with a stint with the Patina Restaurant Group. There Yelp reviews are littered with words like, "authentic", and "real deal Italian." I must admit, I'm more partial to American style pizza, with lots of cheese and toppings, but I'm always game to try a new restaurant.

We arrived here at just before 8 pm on a recent Saturday evening and were met with about a fifteen-minute wait. Luckily, Tom and Daniele got here before us and had put our name on the list. They wanted to sit outside on the front patio, due to Daniele feeling a little queasy. She would eventually spend our whole meal out in the car, and the result was one of the better times we have spent with this fantastic couple. I'm kidding of course, (or am I?).

With Daniele out of the picture, we quickly made our picks off the menu at Angelina's. The menu, as you would expect is pizza driven, with them divided by no sauce pizzas and red ones. There are a good number of starters and salads to choose from, but less in the way of pasta dishes and main courses. I imagine that most people come here for the pizzas, so let's see what we thought of our time at Angelina's.

I've been on a real meatball kick lately, so I figured that I'd give this Polpette Al Sugo ($16) a try to start things out. I'm really glad I did. Three meatballs were bathed in San Marzano tomato sauce and topped with a little bit of burrata and basil. These were very tender and full of flavor. Their sauce was to die for, and the only thing to make this even better would be if they added more of that very good burrata. One of the better meatball dishes I have had, and it made me wish they had a meatball sandwich on their menu.

Tom selected this Polipo and Shrimp Salad ($18), which was a special on this evening to start with. This salad is not on their online menu, but judging by the number of pictures of this on Yelp, it seems to be available rather regularly. For those of you that don't know, like me, polipo is Italian for octopus. So this was basically a seafood salad, which also featured a good amount of tomatoes, red onion, and arugula. Tom loved this salad, and would totally get it again. He thought the octopus was done nicely, and the shrimp was delectable.

As if we did not have enough food before our entrees came out, Katie wanted to try this Melanzane Alla Parmigiana ($13). She was very happy she did. Even as I write this, a month after the fact, she can't stop raving about this square portion of eggplant drenched in Pomodoro sauce and topped with a fresh sprig of locally grown basil. She described this as eggplant lasagna, without the guilty feeling of having noodles. She tossed around words like, "fantastic", "flavorful", and "hearty, without being heavy." She could not see herself coming to Angelina's, and not having this starter.

Since we're talking about Katie's food, we might as well talk about her meal also, which was a special on this evening, the Filetto ($40). This filet was delicious, even though she ordered it medium well. It was topped with a Gorgonzola sauce, which boosted the flavor profile of the usually tender, but sacrificing flavor filet. The filet was sandwiched between roasted potatoes and a side of spinach, which Katie felt both were kind of unremarkable.

Both Tom and I opted for pizzas, and we'll take a look at his Margherita DOC ($18) first. There are two versions of a Margherita pizza on Angelina's menu, and I finally learned the difference between the two. One uses cow's milk to make the mozzarella, and the other, the one that is above, is made with buffalo milk mozzarella. See, even after doing this for seven years, there is still so much for me to learn. Tom must have enjoyed this pizza, as he tore this up, or was he just trying to eat fast to get back to his wonderful wife, who was sawing logs in the car?

As I stated before, I'm usually not a big fan of this authentic, Napoletana style pizza, but I gave it another shot at Angelina's on this evening. I was torn between two, and with a little help for our waitress, I settled on the Saporita ($18). I'm glad I did. This one featured some big-time flavor, which was provided by the inclusion of Gorgonzola cheese, mozzarella, and sausage. It was finished off with their very tasty Pomodoro sauce, extra virgin olive oil, and a light smattering of fresh local basil. The crust here was not as soggy in the middle as others we have had, and it was cooked all the way through, but still had a little chew to it. Of course, it could have used a little more sauce for my taste, and I'm always up for some extra cheese, but this was probably one of the best versions of this style of pizza I have had.

Not only was this a nice and quiet evening, with our friend Daniele in the car, but Angelina's also proved that they can make an authentic Italian pizza that I will enjoy. It's not going to replace my love for more Americanized pizzas, with all of that gooey cheese, extra sauce, and tons of meaty toppings, but I'd definitely come back to have this pizza again with no qualms. Both Tom and Katie also felt that this was a very solid place to experience authentic Italian, made with recipes you would find in that boot-shaped country. Service was pretty stellar on this evening, with our waitress, Maria giving us the lay of the land here, and answering all of our inquiries. I did feel that the prices here were a bit on the high side for the amount of food that you receive, but I understand the ingredients used here are of a higher quality than what most other restaurants use so this might be more of a special occasion restaurant for most of us, including myself. Special occasion or not, Angelina's taught me that I can appreciate real Italian pizza, and also a peaceful night with Daniele.

Out of five tourists, (because the most famous Angelina in the world is Angelina Jolie, who was in a movie called, "The Tourist", and you'll feel like you're touring around Italy eating this pizza), five being best to zero being worst,  Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana gets 3.5 tourists.

For more information about Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana, head to their website here: https://angelinaspizzeria.com/