Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Cafe Lucano--Larkspur, CA

Last night we were caught in the middle of Marin County at dinnertime with nary an idea of what to eat. However, my restaurant-detective wife did a little research on the fly and found Cafe Lucano in Larkspur.

With meat lasagna being one of the specials, we ordered a serving for the twins. The portion was minuscule, though, and was far from able to support the two boys. The size alone made the lasagna a poor value at $12. Frankie and Johnnie's in Mountain View, for example, offers a far more substantial lasagna for a similar price.

From the menu, Jenny got the chicken marsala (pictured below) which she enjoyed. I stole a bite and found that the wine in the sauce stood out, which was fine.

















I tried the chicken saltimbocca (below). The meat was tender but overall the dish was salty, largely due to the prosciutto. One of the starving twins was thankful to have some of the ample amount of parmesan on my plate. I had to drink a liter of water after getting back to the hotel.















My wife and I both enjoyed the mushrooms, which were obviously fresh. Mine were swimming in oil, but that's almost always fine with me. The broccoli was crisp. We both noticed--and were disappointed by--the fact that we weren't served bread, which should be a given at any Italian restaurant.

It's hard for me to recommend for or against Lucano. They nailed the vegetables and the chicken was tender. On the other hand, the lasagna was overpriced and what about the bread?