There are some restaurants that are so twee that you only go for special occasions. Then there are other restaurants, like Tuscany il Restaurante, the creation of notable chef Tommaso Barletta, located in Westlake Village just a bit north and west of Los Angeles, that offers superb food that is unpretentious and real that you want to eat there every day; or if not every day (as many of his customers indeed do) at least once or twice a week. We stop in as often as we can but always when driving between our home and Los Angeles and for special occasions we drive the hour there without a thought.
This is just great Italian food prepared by Chef Tommaso and his team that is good, really tasty and superbly balanced, and just as importantly is dependable. They just don’t have off days. When the weather is not too hot, you can eat under umbrellas on the wide patio space outside to the accompaniment of the local bird population. Or if the southern California sun gets too hot, the outside covered patio with cooling (or in winter heating) is another outside but protected option. If inside dining is your preference, the dining area is divided into several spaces making for more intimacy.
The service is as fast as the kitchen can pump out the dishes and friendly. Amazing how quickly they recognize repeat guests. This is a restaurant that covers all of Italy from Northern dishes to Southern. Tommaso himself was born on the south east coast of Italy in the small fishering village of Monopoli. After his stint at the Italian Culinary Institute, at fifteen, he trained in an apprenticeship program with French chef Charles Vigny who headed the kitchen at Les Flot Bleu in Provence on France’s south coast and then Lake Maggiore near Milan Italy. He then continued on to England and Spain. He even cooked on cruise ships until in 1980 he finally arrived in Los Angeles where he co-opened Adriano’s in Bel Air followed by Rex Il Ristorante in downtown Los Angeles. (Today he leads cooking-class cruises on Regent and helps steer his class to places not crowded by the maddening hoards typical of cruise ship destinations.)
So Tommaso bring a whole lot of diverse influences to his art that we get to enjoy. And he is without doubt one of the most charming chefs we have encountered. So give him a try – you won’t be disappointed. This video is of my Birthday, or to be honest, my “pre-birthday” lunch.
Located in: Westlake Plaza and Center
Address: 968 S Westlake Blvd #4, Westlake Village, CA 91361
Hours:
Open ⋅ Lunch and dinner (closes at 9.00 PM)
Phone: (805) 495-2768
Menu: tuscany-restaurant.com
Reservations: exploretock.com
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