Enne Cucina

Enne Cucina
By Amelia Winslow

Boldly printed right across the front of Enne Cucina Italiana’s menu is the line: “The good things in life are illegal, immoral or make you fat.” While the first two sentiments may be debatable, Nicola Bellazzi creates and cooks such good food at his new San Clemente restaurant, that I have to agree with the last.

You may not expect to sit down to truly authentic Italian food in Talega of San Clemente, but at Enne Cucina, that’s exactly what you’ll find. Nicola (“Nick”) was born and raised in Italy and spent much of his childhood watching his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. He then attended culinary school and proceeded to cook in a wide variety of restaurants all over the globe before opening his first restaurant in Southern California in 1998.

The menu at Enne Cucina is a combination of classic Italian dishes, Nick’s mother Lina’s family recipes and his own new creations. After whetting your appetite with an order of Nick’s twist on bruschetta or Caprese salad, you might dig in to a rich, cheesy helping of Mama Lina’s meatball lasagne, or perhaps a plate of the house-made ravioli, stuffed to the brim with spinach and ricotta and served in brown butter with fresh sage and raisins. In the mood for something lighter? They offer plenty of lower calorie options, like spaghetti with zucchini, tomato and fresh mint or pillow-soft gnocchi with shrimp, anchovies and cherry tomatoes in a white wine sauce.

Just make sure you save room for dessert, as the warm bread pudding with velvety brandy sauce, the chocolate truffle mousse or Mama Lina’s soft tiramisu, are not to be missed.

Whether it’s for lunch, dinner, happy hour or Sunday brunch, Nick and his friendly staff at Enne Cucina are waiting to welcome you to the heart of Italy, right here in South Orange County.

Enne Cucina
831 Via Suerte • San Clemente • 949.492.1089 • www.ennecucina.com