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By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published February 4, 2005
Scott Keeler/tbt*
Luca Quatraro, 33, is the owner of Da Luca Italian Restaurant in Clearwater and knows what to do with a pig when he sees one. tbt* food critic Chris Sherman says his pork dishes are molto bene! (17)
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Since Da Luca doesn't have roasted pork every night, perhaps I shouldn't brag on it.
But just try finding pork on an Italian menu anywhere around a world gone mad for veal and chicken breast. (I'd be delighted to find leg quarters in a cacciatore.)
Da Luca's offering was not a fancy crown roast or big chops, but a more humble cut elevated above them by roasting for hours in white wine, herbs and olive oil. Cook it this way and you'll never wonder how modern pork got to be so darn dry.
Served on freshly made and truly toothsome linguine, this may be the best I've ever had. And I was born in Porkopolis, where pigs danced with apples, studied barbecue in eastern North Carolina and have lived many years here in the land of puerco asado and big chops. This was so rich I'd advise a couple of squeezes of a lemon wedge just for conscience's sake.
If pork or meat of any kind appalls you, there is always eggplant, and Da Luca's is true to Italian form, thanks to olive oil or a special magic I can't duplicate at home.
Here, eggplant is the best of cold-cooked vegetables set out on a sideboard for antipasti, available stuffed with ricotta for appetizers, and tossed with bucatini in tomato sauce. Bucatini is an old pasta dish from Southern Italy and makes an entree as hearty as the pork. It also shows off this odd noodle, long and thick but hollow, to good advantage when it sucks up savory sauce and when it doesn't. Good luck trying to finish the dish. My advice is don't; take it home for another meal.
Breads and trim are simple, but the house salad is crisp and done with fine emulsified balsamic vinegar. Any appetizer with fresh clams in it will have you soaking all your bread.
On the other hand, a special of grouper and a mix of shellfish on linguine was the usual just punishment for those who want to have all kinds of seafood whether they can be cooked right or not. Perhaps this would work better with more wine or citrus juice to give it an acidic edge.
There is veal and chicken, of course, along with gnocchi and porcini mushrooms, but don't call this "Northern Italian." Luca Quatraro is from Puglia and Mario Eiaule is from Napoli, and their cooking covers various regions with an emphasis on local traditions. (Quatraro is a former importer of Italian delicacies.)
Da Luca is still getting established, but it adds a new dimension to dining at what was once the dullest-eating crossroads in Pinellas.
- Chris Sherman sherman@tampabay.com
Da Luca Italian Restaurant
Oakbrook Plaza
2475 N McMullen-Booth Road
Clearwater
(727) 669-0900
Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 5 to 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday.
Reservations accepted.
Details: Outdoor seating; restroom adapted; no smoking; beer, wine. Prices: Dinner, $10.95 to $19.95.[Last modified February 3, 2005, 16:33:11]
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