This was a very pleasant surprise, a nice little lovely Italian Restaurant in the new area called Little Italy of San Jose, California. Owner Pino Spatola aka Giuseppe, who is movie star handsome, treated me like a queen. He is from Sicily, and this restaurant has been opened for 9 years.
Established in 2011, in the heart of Little Italy San Jose, Paesano’s Ristorante Italian serves authentic Italian and Sicilian cuisine. Paesano’s interior is vibrant, filled with Italian wine, beer and of course, Soccer!
Here’s What I Tried:
Appetizers:
Melanzana Parmigiana, Breaded eggplant topped with tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. A delectable eggplant dish, with all the bells and whistles, just amazing.
Antipasto Di Mare, Marinated seafood salad, clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari, octopus, celery, carrots, olive oil and lemon. This is a nice and light salad, they gave me a small portion but it was just enough to taste how delicious the fresh fish and the dressing combined.
Carpaccio, thinly sliced raw beef with shaved Parmesan cheese, arugula, capers, and extra virgin olive oil. This is always one of my favorite appetizers, the marriage of the beef, capers, and olive oil is truly one of the best combinations.
Pasta:
Pappardelle Alexandra, broad ribbon pasta with pancetta, crab meat in a vodka tomato cream sauce. This is one of their signature dishes, with big nice hunks of fresh crab, such a delightful dish. Salvatore is the pasta maker here, and he knows his stuff, this pappardelle was so great.
Duck Ravioli, this was there special for the night. It is so exceptional, and truly delightful.
Their interior is elegant but simple; with wood floors, white table clothes, and a ten-seat bar with flat screen TV’s. There are ornate glass flower drop light fixtures. The building is Victorian with a wrap around patio. Tis’ the season they had lots of light heartfelt Christmas music. Their customers were dates, families, and young foodies.
Gnocchi Alla Genovese, with homemade potato dumplings with pesto and a touch of cream. The Gnocchi are fluffy and light, and the cream pesto was perfect.
Fettuccine Alla Moda, with egg fettuccine pasta with shrimp, porcini mushrooms in a brandy cream sauce. Another outstanding pasta, especially that the pasta is egg noodles, wow.
Entrees:
Agnello Aromatico, lamb chops marinated with Italian aromatic herbs, grilled and topped with green peppercorn in a raspberry vinegar sauce on a bed of fresh arugula. I specifically asked for small portions, because I was dining solo, so Pino brought me one lamp chop, which was just the right amount. It was tender, meaty, a really terrific lamb chop.
Salmone Alla Siciliana, fillet of salmon with sweet onions, green olives, capers, fresh mint and fresh tomato. The combo of the sweet onions and super fresh salmon, and mint is really something, next time I will try cooking this at home for my family.
The restaurant was super busy on a Monday night, so you know the food has to be excellent. Next to me there were 4 Japanese guys and I volunteered to tell them what I was enjoying during my tasting. They followed my suggestions, even down to the wine and loved everything I told them to try. In some small way it was very cathartic to be able to help these fine gentlemen navigate their dining experience, I really loved being able to guide them.
This is the kind of Italian restaurant where everything and anything you try will be authentic and to die for. Most all of the ingredients were fresh, or from Italy, every dish had its own individual flavors. No two dishes were duplicated in any way. Paesano Ristorante Italiano was one of my favorite tastings on this trip.
Paesano Ristorante Italiano
350 W Julian St
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 217-9327
paesanolittleitaly.com
