Best Italian Restaurant in Cabarete/Sosúa

[cavok]

Sorry, I was NOT referring to South Philly in my post - but indeed someone else here confirmed my observation in some other geography.
I also am speaking as someone who lived in the EU for a long time and so my "Italian" is different from those that had Italian in the US. This is not to say that the Italian food in the US is not better than what it once was but, barring high class NY restaurant (I know nothing of CA and if I am in LA, I would go only to the Japanese Sashimi places), Italian food in the US is unrepresentative, first because historically it was food of the poor immigrants from the South, second because of US fascination with quantity (bigger portion is better and we can see the impact of that all around us) and finally, because it had to adjust to the local taste - the people of English/Scottish stock had only boiled stuff, which I enjoy during my NZ trips at English immigrants' residences, who maintain their own tradition there.
Italian food, whether from North or South is way superior - from a fish baked in oven, submerged inside nothing but sea salt in Genoa, to Orechhiette con cime de rapa in Bari. In the DR, I find better Italian food, a) because the restaurants I frequent are owned by the expat Italians, for example in Boca Chica/SD and b) there is a lot of genuine Italian ingredients available - some of which are not allowed into the US - for example someone mentioned "pancetta".
My favorite restaurant in Cabarete is my favorite, also because and this is fairly rare, that the Chef himself is Italian and not being from the South, has a different culinary footprint. In fact, the original owner of the Bologna restaurant was/is from Bologna and the food used to be excellent before it got sold off. By the way, I find the German and French restaurants around the North Coast to be very good too, again for similar reasons. I mean I found reibekuchen at a beachside place in Sosua - unthinkable!

Comparing northern Italian food to southern is comparing apples to oranges. They are two different styles. The one that is "best" is a matter of preference. I don't see your logic that, simply because souther Italy is "poorer" than the nothern part, their food isn't as good(?).

Good southern Italian food is as good today as it ever was. Unless you're talking about Olive Garden, good Italian food in the US is very representative of that in Sicily and the southern part of the US. I have a feeling that you've never been to a good southern style Italian restaurant.

Southern Italians have always had big meals - way before it became popular in the US. Did you ever have a meal with an Italian family? Ever hear of a seven course Italian dinner?

Speaking of Boca Chica, years ago I went to Italy, Italy and another one that was close by. Both owned and run by expat Italians. I was not impressed. I'm not sure why you think just because an expat Italian owns a restaurant here it is automatically good(?). There are plenty of Italian expat restaurants here and many are not that good. Many are just that - expats. They never ran a restaurant in Italy and their dream was just to retire here and open one.

Some cured meats like pancetta can't be imported, but you'll find far more variety of meats, cheeses, and other Italian ingredients in the US than you will here. Just consider the number of Italians in the US and the popularity of Italian food there.

From what everyone says, Bliss is a very good restaurant, but that's not the type of Italian food I'm looking for. I'll have to try some of the ones mentioned.

 

[cavok]

What is the opinion of "Ceiba Cafe" located in Perla Marina? I like their pizza and have had a good eggplant parm there.

I've had their pizza, lasagna, and calzones. It's good for here, but not as good as better Italian restaurants in the US.

 

[cavok]

It is obvious from reading the comments here, that we all like our childhood/comfort foods better.
The northern italian cuisine is different, abounds in white sauce as butter and cream (as in France as well) historically were local produce, as is rice - which is grown only in the north, hence risotto Milanese. The red sauce is a derivative of tomato, which is a product of the sun, i.e., the South - as is wheat (pizza and pasta hence) and of course olive oil, which is the "Italian" known in the US, because of the demography of the emigrants. By all means, sun ripe tomatoes, olive oil and a few sprigs of basil leaves, on top of a bowl of spaghetti, can be quick, scrumptious and memorable but it is just a fragment of ITALIAN cuisine.

Southern Italian is one of the two "styles" of cooking. In the US, Mexico, Central American, South America, and the Caribbean(including the DR), Southern Italian is far more ubiquitous and popular than northern style. I'd hardly call that a "fragment".

 

[windeguy]

Southern Italian is one of the two "styles" of cooking. In the US, Mexico, Central American, South America, and the Caribbean(including the DR), Southern Italian is far more ubiquitous and popular than northern style. I'd hardly call that a "fragment".

Where I was from, there was virtually no Italian food like the menu items at most of what people call the "good Italian" restaurants mentioned in this thread.

 

[cavok]

Where I was from, there was virtually no Italian food like the menu items at most of what people call the "good Italian" restaurants mentioned in this thread.

Me either, not in Philly nor in South Florida. I think some of the posters here don't have the same "reference point" we do(?).

 

[La Profe_1]

I've been reading this discussion about types of Italian food and nodding to myself. My mother was first-generation American, born of Sicilian immigrant parents in South Philadelphia. Several times a year, she would make the trip back there and come home with all kinds of delicacies that were not available elsewhere. My most vivid memory is of the live conch.

The red sauce Windeguy wants to find so desperately was a given, along with pizza dough made from scratch, lasagna, fresh pasta and so many others I cannot list them all.

I absolutely agree that much of the Italian food available in the DR (at least in the province of Puerto Plata) does not begin to approach the food I enjoyed until her death.

 

[tempo]

I made a recommendation of a specific restaurant based on my culinary experience, not to get involved in a diatribe but, I understand that many here are attached to their comfort food of their past, in the US.
I would say that if one visited Italy, one would find each region has its typical dishes, each rich with its local folklore and ingredients so even the North-South story is an over-simplification. I remember eating pesto for the first time in Genoa when it was not available in other parts of Italy. Now it is made even in the US, with almonds (what a joke!). One can find pizza in Central Italy, with potatoes, spinach and eggplant, and these may have no tomatoes at all, which would be news to the US as much as "pepperoni pizza" is news to the Italians in their homeland.
The fact is, the richer northerners of Italy had no reason to emigrate unlike the people from the south and so yes, pizza and pasta and tomato sauce became popular in the New World. It is for a similar reason most of South America/Central America (DR included) speak (Andalu....not even Andaluz) Andalucian Spanish, which was the poorest part of Spain and whose people emigrated.
Today people travel, out of their own volition and the cuisine they look for is different accordingly. I for one, who does not visit an "Italian" restaurant in my neck of the woods, am particularly pleased with the variety in the DR ( I have my recommendations in South America as well) even though sometime they too over do it, as in french fries daubed with truffle oil. I equally enjoy the German and French restaurants along the North Coast as these are as genuine as I expect them to be in Europe.

 

[windeguy]

I've been reading this discussion about types of Italian food and nodding to myself. My mother was first-generation American, born of Sicilian immigrant parents in South Philadelphia. Several times a year, she would make the trip back there and come home with all kinds of delicacies that were not available elsewhere. My most vivid memory is of the live conch.

The red sauce Windeguy wants to find so desperately was a given, along with pizza dough made from scratch, lasagna, fresh pasta and so many others I cannot list them all.

I absolutely agree that much of the Italian food available in the DR (at least in the province of Puerto Plata) does not begin to approach the food I enjoyed until her death.

Well, there you have it. Exactly what I have been saying.

 

[windeguy]

I made a recommendation of a specific restaurant based on my culinary experience, not to get involved in a diatribe but, I understand that many here are attached to their comfort food of their past, in the US.
I would say that if one visited Italy, one would find each region has its typical dishes, each rich with its local folklore and ingredients so even the North-South story is an over-simplification. I remember eating pesto for the first time in Genoa when it was not available in other parts of Italy. Now it is made even in the US, with almonds (what a joke!). One can find pizza in Central Italy, with potatoes, spinach and eggplant, and these may have no tomatoes at all, which would be news to the US as much as "pepperoni pizza" is news to the Italians in their homeland.
The fact is, the richer northerners of Italy had no reason to emigrate unlike the people from the south and so yes, pizza and pasta and tomato sauce became popular in the New World. It is for a similar reason most of South America/Central America (DR included) speak (Andalu....not even Andaluz) Andalucian Spanish, which was the poorest part of Spain and whose people emigrated.
Today people travel, out of their own volition and the cuisine they look for is different accordingly. I for one, who does not visit an "Italian" restaurant in my neck of the woods, am particularly pleased with the variety in the DR ( I have my recommendations in South America as well) even though sometime they too over do it, as in french fries daubed with truffle oil. I equally enjoy the German and French restaurants along the North Coast as these are as genuine as I expect them to be in Europe.

None of that is what I am talking about.

But I am sure the food there is good in its own way. Just like the food I had in Milan was.
But nowhere near to what I am craving in the most remote way anyone here can imgagine but one or two so far have had back in the northeast of my home land. .

 

[windeguy]

Me either, not in Philly nor in South Florida. I think some of the posters here don't have the same "reference point" we do(?).

They cannot even imagine it. Nothing else I have had is the same and I used to be a travelling salesman for several years of trips across the US
.
For a couple of years I travelled with a fellow named Dom Norcia who died this year. He was also from the northeast of the US. He found the one place in San Jose and another in San Diego that actually did have good Italian food, you know the kind based upon tomatoes, and we had many good meals at each. Those spots are very rare.

 

[jd426]

People who have never even traveled to Italy should not even be commenting on what is " good Italian" food ,
I have only ONCE traveled to Northern Italy, and the south of France ( and I agree btw ,that the sauces in SanRemo for ex , do resemble those in France ) ..
And yet I do not think I am even remotely qualified to critique anyone else's tastes on what they consider to be real Italian food and what Region it comes from , one being "better" than the other . I do also think that Southern Italian Food is more Simple, but with quality ingredients , the North much more sophisticated, imo
Traveling to Italy , really does open ones eyes , and us simple minded Americans have no clue what we are talking about..

 

[El Rey de Mangu]

What is the opinion of "Ceiba Cafe" located in Perla Marina? I like their pizza and have had a good eggplant parm there.

Ceiba I like. They are very good folks and they do well with quality control. You can ask them to customize any dish and they will. The red sauce is not the best but the pizza is great when you eat in. They've been doing home made ravioli for a while and it's very good for the price.

 

[tempo]

None of that is what I am talking about.

But I am sure the food there is good in its own way. Just like the food I had in Milan was.
But nowhere near to what I am craving in the most remote way anyone here can imgagine but one or two so far have had back in the northeast of my home land. .

Apologies but I was not reacting to your comments. I understand where you are coming from as we all have our preferred food. No contest! Having said that, someone else commented that I was apparently "belittling" South, and that got me riled up.

 

[tempo]

People who have never even traveled to Italy should not even be commenting on what is " good Italian" food ,
I have only ONCE traveled to Northern Italy, and the south of France ( and I agree btw ,that the sauces in SanRemo for ex , do resemble those in France ) ..
And yet I do not think I am even remotely qualified to critique anyone else's tastes on what they consider to be real Italian food and what Region it comes from , one being "better" than the other . I do also think that Southern Italian Food is more Simple, but with quality ingredients , the North much more sophisticated, imo
Traveling to Italy , really does open ones eyes , and us simple minded Americans have no clue what we are talking about..

Ha, you have been to San Remo, I presume along the Ligurian coast on your way to Nice and beyond? Yes, as you get closer to France, Italian food changes. France too has huge regional differences - foie gras is typically Southwest France (Toulouse) while, if you are in Bordeaux, you would want to try oysters and clams/mussels.

I will say this based on personal experience, that cuisine in Europe is a very different thing. Whether Italy, France, Spain or Germany, there is enormous diversity among regions in terms of what is available which is reflected in the cuisine and if you are adventurous, you will find all regions to be equally great. Indeed even in the US, prior to the advent of hamburger and fries, we too had a lot of variety. We have chowder and the Carolinas have grit, Louisiana has Gumbo and okra and so forth.

 

[AlterEgo]

This has been an interesting discussion, but mostly about places other than DR.

Reminder: All posts must be DR related, or they will be deleted from here forward.

 

[windeguy]

As I suspected, I remain searching for the best Southern Italian red sauce meals available on the north coast. I will leave the others to their "more complex northern Italian" food.

 

[Michael DR]

For sure, Bliss in Cabarete is wonderful. When in Sosua , Osteria Toscana is your best bet.

Is Osteria Toscana still open? Thanks

 

[Northern Coast Diver]

Yes, Osteria Toscana has been open daily!

 

[Meemselle]

Opinions and recommendations, please!

Osteria Toscana at the corner of the road to Playa Sosua or Steven at Playa Alicia. Both run by real live Italians.

 

[Michael DR]

Yes, Osteria Toscana has been open daily!

Thanks, I'm glad. Great place and owner