Fratello's Italian Tavern, North Charleston, SC

Today your very friendly blogger is here to tell you about a fab Italian spot in North Charleston, Fratello’s Italian Tavern. 

Super lunch spot, but first a word about my fascinating childhood, when I learned all Italian food comes from a can via the capable hands of Chef Boyardee.

Know all about that brand?  ‘Course not.  As usual you need my help. “Hector Boyardee" was an Italian immigrant who founded the company in 1928, in Cleveland and chose the name to make it easy for Americans to pronounce his real name, Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985).

Throughout my fascinating childhood, if you wanted spaghetti, you reached for a can opener. Then at the age of twenty-five, I moved to the wonder that is Europe, and friends introduced me to Northern Italian cuisine.  Oh, the wonder of calamari, mussels and clams in butter wine sauce, veal in a luscious mustard cream, baked cannelloni smothered in creamy goodness, and spaghetti Carbonara, Came as a great revelation to find Chef B was not the only chef in Italy, and all Italian food isn’t sloshed in tomato sauce.  Especially in Northern Italy, where cream sauce is the king. 

Other fav memories were the small outdoor courtyards, where pizzas were hand thrown and tossed into a wood fired oven until they had charred edges.

The point I’m making is I know Italian food.  Matter of fact, even though I have often said the French can teach anyone how to eat, I must make an exception for Italians. Those happy, hearty souls can lay some fine grits on the table.

But, I didn’t expect to find a jewel of Italian cuisine in North Charleston.  Nothing wrong with North Charleston, but South Carolina is BBQ and seafood country.

Fratello’s Italian Tavern is aptly named.  Take your lunch outside under an awning, while you munch some fresh Italian bread and sip an aperitif, or go inside and feel as if you just arrived in Italy.  I love the décor, featuring a long mahogany bar at the rear of the restaurant, oversized Italian posters, and dark cream-colored walls, edged with red brick.

I felt comfortable and I wanted to stay awhile.  No problem. The wait staff isn’t the least bit pushy. My companion and I ordered drinks and a dish of Bamberi to pass the time while we chatted and lingered over the delightful menu.

Wait until your waiter brings you some Prosecco and a bowl of Bamberi, sautéed shrimp in a white wine, garlic, lemon, and butter sauce!

I ordered Insalata Fratello, featuring roasted and grilled vegetables over baby greens, lashed with a light orange vinaigrette. My companion went with a Caesar Insalata with a house made dressing and loaded with tender strips of grilled chicken.  Don’t like those?  Pity.  But, being your friend, helpmate, and culinary advisor, I’ve included a link (below) to the full menu.

Insalada del Fratello

Didn’t go to Fratello’s Italian Tavern for supper, or cocktail hour, but lunch was so good, you wouldn't have to ask me twice.  Matter of fact, I’ll ask you.  Wanna go for a drink or two and some of the finest Italian food in the greater Charleston area?  Yep, thought you might say yes.  And don’t hold back.  Invite the whole gaggle of your so-called friends and we’ll make it a party.  No can openers required.

1050 E Montague Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405

Menu: http://fratellostavern.com/menu/

Da Gino - Indulge Your Inner Italian

Unimposing outside, delicious inside

I gotta admit, I’m not a huge fan of Italian food in Germany.  Much of it is trite and that’s being kind.  Like scoping out the women at Happy Hour, you really have to pick and choose.  A bad one will spoil your evening and maybe your weekend.

More years ago than I care to admit, I lived in a different Germany.  Italian restaurants were few, but they were good.  In my estimation, proliferation lowered the standards.  Fortunately, the better ones are fairly easy to spot.  Parking lots are full.  In good weather, umbrella topped tables spill out onto the sidewalks and plazas.  A dead giveaway:  you hear a lot of Italian spoken, and if you’re aurally challenged, you can go by the waving hands and arms, synchronized with the moving lips.

There are exceptions to the general rules.  I found one traveling through Landstuhl, on the way to Kinsbach.

At first glance Da Gino’s is unimposing.  No outside seating.  Looks almost industrial.  You could drive right by, and I did, until some friends let me in on the secret:  Gino runs a special place.  Busy, yet intimate.  Tasteful décor.  A stone oven.  A very happy bar.  Food that dances on your taste buds.   An atmosphere that begs for a leisurely meal and warm conversation.  Invite several friends.  Bring your loved one, or your wife.

Décor, etc can be perfect, but still the main thing is the food.  The second is a good wine.  Da Gino has got ‘em both.  I’ve sucked down the red and white house wines.  Friends have tried the rosé.  All memorable.

Bread straight from the stone oven!

Pizzas from the stone oven look wonderful and the aroma of fresh tomatoes and melted cheese follows them to your table.  Haven’t eaten one, but the crusty pizza bread Gino serves is so tasty you have to stop yourself.   The gnocchi also looks and smells delicious.

Gnocchi

The star of the show!

For me, however, the star of the show is the seafood salad.  Yes, the seafood on the salad is fried, but don’t let that stop you.  Gently fried.  Very lightly breaded, the salmon and white fish filets are tender, not dry, and the calamari are crisp on the outside and not chewy.  Shrimp?  Oh, my goodness.  Large.  Succulent. 

Wash it down with a soft Pinot Grigio, and end the meal with a dessert, if you dare, or perhaps a snifter of Grappa.   Bellissimo!

Been there twice.  Will go again. No arm twisting required.  The perfect place for a bevy of friends to chat, drink, and bolster their Italian appetites.

Buon Appetito!

Kaiserstrasse 79, 66849 Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

+49 6371/914441

Gino at work.

The wonderful stone oven.

A glass for every type of thirst.