Dining Spanish Tapas-Style in an Italian-Style Villa

I love this restaurant! Friends have dubbed dining here as “a quick trip to Italy.” The food is always delicious and well prepared. The Italian wines — superb! Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood is so close I can’t believe we don’t take advantage of its beautiful location and excellent food more often. Tonight my daughter Heather and I decide to dine tapas-style, sharing as many small plates as our hungry tummies can hold.

Arriving at 7 p.m. our table is ready, but wanting to sit in the garden area, we decide it is worth it to wait.  Agreeing that it will be more fun with a glass of wine in hand, we stroll to the bar, asking the resident sommelier for a bottle of  Valpolicella. Valpolicella Ripasso Classico Superiore 2015 -David Sterza, to be exact.  This is a lovely Italian wine I discovered a few weeks ago while dining with friends. Sipping while we sit and talk, the wine is as good as I remember.

Italian Small Bites

When the hostess eventually leads us to a table, we find ourselves sitting by a window overlooking the distant Texas Hills. We begin our foodie adventure with Antipastie Salumi Misti,  a selection of cured meats served with traditional Italian style marinated vegetables and cheeses. This dish is one of our favorites and an annual treat.  I think I love the Cipollini onions the best.  And, I wish the prosciutto I buy at the market could be half as good as the prosciutto served at Trattoria Lisina. It truly reminds me of lunch in Italy.

The antipasti a delicious memory, we peruse the menu again.  This time we select crispy fried artichoke balls. Frittelle ai Carciofi are little round fritters served with a pepperoncini aioli and spicy Pachino sauce. We discover the best way to enjoy these one-bite appetizers is by ladling both sauces on each fritter then using a fork, rather than our fingers to pop them into our mouths. Crunchy. Creamy. Savory. Bites. Yumm!

I suggest we try Ravioli Nudi next. This appetizer is becoming a habit with me and I want Heather to experience the tender and delicious combination of ricotta and spinach dumplings baked in a luscious tomato cream sauce. The melt in your mouth nudi are decadently delicious.

We should probably stop while we are ahead, but I persuade Heather that we really need to add a substantial protein to our appetizer exploration. Mamma’s Meatballs beckon — a combination of veal, beef, and pork — served in a marinara sauce and enhanced with a generous sprinkle of Grana Padana. The meatballs are good — the garlic bread that accompanies them is out of this world. I would order the meatballs again just to taste this crispy garlicky sensation.

Dessert

I think we are both full, but apparently, we need a tiny bit of sweetness to end the evening. We opt to share Sfinci, my go-to dessert at this restaurant.  Sfinci is a Sicilian style “drop” doughnut, rolled in cinnamon-sugar and served with honey and pastry cream. My favorite way to eat these is by spooning the pastry cream on top of one, drizzling it with honey and then squeezing a tiny bit of lemon juice over all. Absolutely divine!

The last two customers to leave the restaurant, our annual Mother-Daughter pilgrimage to Trattoria Lisina is over too soon.  We walk out into the dark Texas night, caressed by a soft breeze and gaze up at the stars.