Antica Trattoria Review

Jason here. Kayleigh and I took a trip down to San Diego to visit some family. While we were there, we had the fortune of visiting some wonderful gluten friendly restaurants. The last place we visited was a restaurant by the name of Antica Trattoria.

Antica Trattoria is an upscale Italian restaurant which also has a selection of fine wines. Not being a big wine connoisseur myself, I opted out of drinking this night, so will let Kayleigh speak to the drinks. I did however, order some capellini made from gluten free pasta. The price point was about where I would expect it for a nice Italian restaurant, even after the additional charge to substitute gluten free pasta.

While you can by gluten free pasta from the store, it always seems to just taste better somehow at a restaurant. Our waiter was friendly, and confirmed the dish was entirely gluten free once I made the substitution. Italian restaurants are traditionally hard for me to eat at, as few offer gluten free options. It was nice to finally sit down and enjoy some pasta again. Back when I could enjoy it, I was a big fan of angel hair pasta, so I was a little disappointed when I found the pasta substitution was only penne. While it makes perfect sense, it is something to be aware of when you make your order.

The capellini dish tasted great. It caught my attention as it contained what I would have added if I was making my own pasta dish from scratch. Primarily the mushrooms and shrimp. Something I could never have pulled off was the garlic and chardonnay lobster broth sauce. Along with the fresh tomato, it gave the dish something in the middle of a traditional red pasta sauce, and a creamy white sauce.

As an aside, I am getting slightly better at de-shelling shrimp using only a fork and knife, but I still feel quite clumsy at it. I’m sure I can’t be the only one that finds that awkward. Also, I’m still not sure where to place the shell after I peeled it. I still haven't managed to deshell a shrimp with chopsticks, though...

Kayleigh here. I admit, I rarely order the same alcohol twice- not because I have yet to find one that I like, but because I just love trying new ones and expanding my knowledge and palate. The wine list here focused mostly on Reds, but encompassed a wide variety of Italian and Californian vineyards (and even a couple in Washington) that made choosing very hard. The food, I found, was an equally difficult choice despite the menu being only one page long. All the entrees just seemed so...good! Others at the table highly recommended ordering one of the dishes with the short ribs, but I went with something more on the veggie side of things. Either way, there are plenty of choices for even picky eaters, and they were extremely accommodating with the few substitutions we ended up making.

As the food was delicious, the menu and staff gluten friendly I would recommend you give Antica Trattoria a visit if you are in town.