Inspired by our recent foray into Neopolitan food at Naples 15 in Madison, for Ken’s birthday, we tried Tenuta’s and were astounded by the heavenly food. To start, we shared the arancini with marinara. The fontina was oozy and the risotto was delicately fried on the outside and warm and creamy on the inside. The crumbled sausage didn’t add much, which is odd considering it was the shining star of one of the entrees. The luxurious marinara more than compensated for it. Its depth and richness was impressive, and we sopped up every last bit of it with the provided bread. The bread was dreadfully disappointing, though. Italian bread can be soft, but this was utterly without substance.
Ken chose the special for his entree. They didn’t describe it this way, but it was a pork Milanese, which is a thin pork cutlet that is breaded and fried in butter. As you might guess, it was delicious. Accompanying the pork Milanese was spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and oil), which sounds simplistic, but when done well is staggeringly good. This one was the real deal, heavily saturated with garlic, and it was the perfect thing to dredge the pork cutlet through before directing it your mouth.
