Image via ilsorrentino.fr
For a special occasion, like a birthday, Il Sorrentino is the perfect place to dine. Owned by chef Raffaele, this upscale Italian restaurant will bring you straight to his home town of Sorrento, as the name suggests.
Note: It’s a good idea to call and confirm your reservation, especially if it happens to be on a jour ferié (holiday) as many restaurants in France are closed. Lucky for us, Il Sorrentino was open and full of life when we arrived on May 8, la fête de la victoire, the last day of World War II.
Located on rue Montessuy with a surprising view of the Eiffel Tower, Il Sorrentino is all white linen and soft lighting, with black and white images of Sorrento spanning the walls. My husband and I enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne while waiting for our guests to arrive.
The view is dazzling
Once everyone was seated, we ordered bruschette à la tamate and parmigiana di melenzane for the table (a millefeuille of eggplant, mozzarella and tomato). Our waitress, who happened to be the wife of chef Raffaele, was very accommodating and attentive. For our main course, I enjoyed the linguini caso with shrimp and arugula, while my husband quickly devoured his trio of ravioli which he declared to be delicious. We all shared a bottle of robust Santa Cristina Le Maestrelle 2009 from Tuscany, which of course went very well with dinner. At the table next to us, someone must have ordered the house specialty, tagliatelle au fromage, because the waiter came over with a giant wheel of Parmesan which he lit on fire with a splash of Grappa and tossed the pasta in. It was quite show.
For dessert, I had the café gourmand, which is the French way of having your cake and eating it too: you get an espresso accompanied by a trio of small desserts. In this case, the espresso was a rich Italian variety, and I loved the tiny tiramisu and creamy panna cota with a raspberry coulis. The best part was the Italian pastry because it had candles sticking out of it that someone had given to the waitress beforehand. Okay, it was my birthday, and a wonderful evening at Il Sorrentino it was indeed.
Il Sorrentino
4 rue de Montessuy
75007 Paris
Metro : Alma Marceau or Ecole Militaire
© 2012 Pasa’s Paris