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Chef brings Sicilian flavors to Lorton’s Pane e Vino
Posted: 12/17/2008

Brooklyn-born Italian American Antonino Di Nicola recently celebrated the opening of a “La Bottega,” or shop, adjoining his stylish Italian eatery in Lorton Town Center.

Di Nicola is chef, butcher and baker at Pane e Vino Ristorante e Pizzeria, reminiscent of an authentic trattoria (casual café) with wooden tables, Italian music and garlic wafting in the air.

Assisted by his business partners — brother-in-law Salvatore Li Rocchi and nephew David Abella — Di Nicola stays true to his roots serving rustic Sicilian cuisine.

Di Nicola was prodded by his father to learn and speak better Italian, leading to his return to Sicily at age 13.

After graduating from college with a Masters in Art Education, he began working at his mother-in-law’s restaurant, Villa Belvedere, in Ciminna, Sicily, where he developed his passion for cooking. In 1999 he returned to the United States to open his own restaurant.

Sicilian cooking, influenced by two countries bordering the Mediterranean — Greece (to the west) and Africa (to the south) — embraces traditional ingredients such as eggplant, olives, olive oil, fish, mussels and couscous.

“Fettuccini Malafemmina,” a favorite entrée at Pane e Vino, reflects this influence with its sautéed clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops and crab meat in white wine garlic sauce with black olives, tomatoes and capers.

“Penne del Bosco”, another popular entrée, consists of penne pasta with mixed wild mushrooms, onions and meat sauce in a tomato cream sauce. I savored the combination of flavors and varied textures in this dish. The delicate tomato cream sauce melded perfectly with the carefully-selected ingredients.

Di Nicola referenced a dish called “Gnocchi al profumo di Salvia” (gnocchi pasta mixed with baby clams and chopped clams in a sage butter sauce), which he says is representative of the land and water that resonates with the cuisine of the island of Sicily.

“You got the sea — the clams — and you have [the] land — gnocchi, made from potatoes. So you have both; sea and land meet up,” he said.

The menu is a wealth of imaginative creations from Di Nicola and the ten members of his kitchen staff. With names like “Funghi e Spinaci” (grilled mushrooms with spinach served in a light lemon, olive oil dressing), “Mozzarella alla Carrettiera” (sliced Italian bread stuffed with mozzarella, battered in egg and fried to perfection) and the classic Sicilian dish, “Involtini alla Norma” (baked eggplant stuffed with pasta, ricotta and topped with mozzarella cheese), there is no need to brush up on your Italian before visiting Pane e Vino. Each item on the impressive menu is described in detail. I delight in the grilled mushroom and spinach salad, and was ecstatic when my attentive waitress informed me grilled mushrooms can be added to any entrée.

For extra value, daily lunch specials are offered for a mere $9.99 (10 percent off with military ID) Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

You can select from a substantial entrée menu, including soup or salad. I highly recommend the “Farfallette alla Garibaldi,” consisting of bow tie pasta with ham, green peas, asparagus, onions and mushrooms in Di Nicola’s homemade cream sauce. “Rigatoni alla Traviata” made with diced eggplant, onions, basil and plum tomatoes is a formidable runner-up.

Another reason to add Pane e Vino to your “must go” list is its elaborate all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch. (Check out the “gallery” photos on its Web site.) This wall-to-wall buffet, served 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., is a gastronome’s delight. Stations of made-to-order pasta, omelets, waffles and wood-fired pizza represent only a portion of this generous feast. Entrées of fish, lamb and pork, as well as a carving station for beef, a salad bar, and an elaborate pastry bar accompany the traditional breakfast items. During my visit, distinctive items, like white asparagus and quarters of fresh avocados filled with a marinated mixture of tomatoes and olives, joined an impressive antipasto platter at the salad bar. Melon and mango balls, papaya wedges, fresh blueberries, raspberries and giant blackberries were displayed in colorful array.

Exhibiting the kitchen’s attention to detail, fresh slices of pineapple, pink grapefruit and watermelon lay perfectly aligned, pared and seedless. Kid-size cereal boxes are even available for little ones. This spread is quite a bargain at $16.99 per person, including one mimosa each.

You may want to drop in for some homemade gelato. A small freezer tucked just inside the front door, offers a dozen flavors of homemade goodness.

My mouth watered as Di Nicola described gelato in a bun — the Italian version of an ice cream sandwich, called “brioche” on the menu. Freshly-baked, sweetened pastry is sliced open and filled with the gelato of your choice. The day I visited, flavors included espresso, pistachio, kiwi, strawberry and tiramisu.

In the new shop, patrons can purchase his homemade sauces, breads, meat, cheeses and wine.

The expansion increased seating in the restaurant and enlarged the kitchen. The additional space includes a “chef’s table” Di Nicola refers to as “the experience.”

Pane e Vino hosts monthly wine dinners and occasionally sponsors special events with international winemakers; reservations required. Catering and take-out is also available.

One certainly doesn’t need an excuse to visit Pane e Vino often!

Mary Ann Kauchak lives in Lake Ridge. Send questions or comments to makauchak@comcast.net.
 

Pane e Vino
Belmont Bay news

Ristorante Review by Josie Larson

Trying to write about a great restaurant in Woodbridge is like being asked to pick your favorite teacher in a one room schoolhouse: it just “ain’t gonna happen.” If you want something that’s really excellent, you’re gonna have to leave town. Fortunately, you don’t have to go too far. When someone originally told me about PANE VINO, raving about is fabulous food, I was eager-that is until they gave me directions: “go north on RT. 1 to Armistead Road, turn left and go to Lorton Town Center, 9020 Lorton Station Blvd, Suite E.” I’m thinking, Oh man, that’s a shopping center! But, starved for something special, and with time on my hands, we went, and found it easily, even without Northstar GPS.

The décor was typical Italian trattoria, dark tile floor, soft mustard walls hung with Italian pottery plates. There were wooden booths, small wooden tables and chairs, no linens, no candles, and at 3pm, not a lot of customers. We were given a booth and my husband ordered a glass of house red. I ordered water which came quickly in a tall glass. He tasted the Chianti and made a ghastly face, noticed at once by one of the owners, Antonio Dinicola. Antonio asked, “Which wine did you order?” Answer “The cheap one.” Antonio advised, “Always upgrade one level” and replaced his glass with a much more acceptable red. We looked over the menu, and our waitress arrived with a basket of warm, homemade bread, and a small dish of olive oil for dipping. It was ever so good. We ordered a Caesar salad to share which was excellent. I ordered spaghetti and meatballs ($10), and husband ordered fettuccini Alfredo ($9). Both orders came in large bowls. We dipped bread and ate our delicious pasta-well about half of it (You might want to consider sharing, the portions are huge!). Then for dessert: Tiramisu. The meal was without a doubt the best meal we have had within a 50 mile radius. The sauces are homemade, as is everything, breads, pastas, pizzas, desserts, they make it all. Antonio explained that he personally does not do everything-there are family helpers.

PANE VINO was not particularly busy during our 3pm dining time, and Antonio leisurely explained that the restaurant was strictly family owned, and each member has his own specialty and loved what they did. It showed.

We went back, just to prove to ourselves that it really was as good as we first thought. My husband had the “up graded wine”, and Lasagna, and I had the Melanzana (eggplant) alla Parmigiana (I asked that they leave off the cheese which they did). Both were excellent; this time we shared a cannoli, best one I’ve had since I last ate in my brother’s restaurant, where his cook’s grandmother made the deserts!

There is an extensive menu, Antipasti, salads, pasta, chicken, fish, and steak. The dinner are a bit more expensive, but aren’t they all? There is a children’s menu with pizza, pasta and chicken fingers, all at $5. PANE VINO is open from 11am to 10pm (11pm on weekends), and there are specials on weekends, usually one fish, one meat. If you are planning to go on a weekend night. I strongly suggest you call and get on the call ahead list. They don’t take reservations.

On a Friday evening-when we thought we’d just pop by for pizza-we found them “booked.” So call, go, have a wonderful dining experience, just don’t order the cheap wine. Cheers!

www.DonRockwell.com
Pane e Vino, Sicilian Cooking in Lorton, Chef Antonino di Nicola on Lorton Station Blvd.

I am on a mission to taste my way through southern Fairfax County and I've contributed some Springfield reviews over the past year. I have eaten a few times at Pane e Vino in what appears to be the Lorton Town Center, if that's what it's called, but it sure looks like it's trying to be one of those now ubiquitous Town Centers popping up everywhere. DR will have to expand the restaurant guide to include a Lorton listing now.

Pane e Vino is family owned, and therefore checks the box of not being a chain, so that's the first positive sign. It has its own pizza oven, so that's the second positive sign. It has become so successful that it bought the Americanized Chinese place next door and expanded into it, so that's the third positive sign. And I haven't even gotten into the food yet.

As for the food, well, there are many family owned Italian places from Burke to Lorton, all of them pretty good, from Rafagino's in Burke to Vinny's in Lorton, with Victor's next to the Springfield Whole Foods and San Vito down on Rolling and Braddock. All very good and all very reasonably priced, and none of them near the quality of Pane e Vino. This place is now my go-to Italian restaurant south of Fairfax.

Dinner starts with an almost-amouse of a three tastes to go with the fresh bread basket. In one ceramic rectangle was three mini-bowls of olives, olive oil with parmesan, and marinara that tasted fresh made. With the warm breads, this was a hearty start. We accompanied this with a bottle of chardonnay off the daily special list, and since they didn't have the one we ordered, they gave us a more expensive one for the $22 special price.

Tonight we ate off the specials, more or less. Girlfriend had the blackened rockfish, covered with marinara, spinach and olives, which to this day is the best rockfish dish I have ever eaten in my life. Absolutely cooked to perfection. I had the chicken frescia, which is a boneless breast of chicken pounded thin and covered with tomato sauce, spinach and mozzarella, served with a side of pasta and red sauce. To die for, and cooked to a juicy and tender doneness that is difficult to achieve for white meat of chicken.

This place also has a pizza menu that looks tempting, and with the aforementioned pizza oven, it is one of the specialties of the house. I am torn here, because pizza would make a nice noon meal when split with a friend, and across the street is the Fireside grill, which has some tempting grilled sandwiches and is the subject of another review. And when I think of pizza in the southern part of the county, I am drawn to Delia's....oh well, maybe pizza is another topic for another time.

We couldn't have left more satisfied, and a dinner for two (without dessert) with a bottle of wine and tax and tip came to just over $60. I will continue to treat this place as my go-to Italian restaurant this side of Dolce Vita, Da Domenico, Mama's or Bonaroti.