C & C Pasta's 'home-style' fare is sure to please

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Chef Joey Julian whips up a tagliatale sausage dish in the C&C Pasta kitchen in Kaimuki. Julian has been in charge of the kitchen for about a year.

C&C's char-grilled vegetable appetizer combines fresh fennel, asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, Spanish onion, and sweet red and yellow peppers.

C&C Pasta 3605 Wai'alae Ave. 732-5999 Lunch: Tuesdays- Saturdays, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. Dinner: Tuesdays-Sundays, 5-9 p.m. Very Good

Chef Julian describes his style as "rustic Italian, hearty and home-style." After eating there twice, once each for lunch and dinner, I believe that to be an appropriate description of C&C's fare.

The lunch menu offers a fine selection of appetizers. There's a baby spinach salad ($7.50) with avocado and crisp pancetta (cured, unsmoked Italian-style bacon), drizzled with mustard dressing. The arugula salad ($8) teams this spicy leaf with pear, Pecorino Romano cheese, watercress and candied walnuts with red-wine vinaigrette. The contrasting flavors and textures of this salad work quite well together.

The char-grilled vegetable appetizer ($9) combines fresh fennel, asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, Spanish onion, and sweet red and yellow peppers. This appetizer is enough for a light lunch, especially with the sourdough bread you're given. I would have enjoyed a more aggressive grilled flavor to the vegetables, but it was still quite good.

The bruschetta trio ($10.50) was delicious but slightly flawed. Six hunks of grilled bread with various toppings — tomato, mozzarella and roasted eggplant, mounds of mushrooms and goat cheese with big white cannellini beans. Unfortunately, the toppings were cold.

Several sandwiches at lunch take center stage. A roasted chicken breast ($9.50) is matched with fontina cheese (creamy consistency, mild and nutty flavor), pesto, roasted onion and baby greens. The roasted pork tenderloin ($9.50) with provolone cheese, aioli (garlic mayonnaise), baby greens, roasted onion and tomato is a hearty and luscious sandwich, as is the veal Milanese ($10.50), a breaded veal cutlet with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, tomato, arugula and aioli.

Pasta dishes come with green salad on every plate, and the pasta here is made in-house. The garlicky shrimp ($11.50 at lunch, $18.50 at dinner) is served on a bed of linguine pommodori. The garlic flavor was just right, not overpowering, and the shrimp were tasty.

Fettuccine with four large langoustine ($11.50 for lunch; $21.50 at dinner) is one of the few pasta dishes without tomato. This one is flavored with fresh fennel and black pepper, with a beurre blanc that flaunted its lemony tartness.

Dinnertime brings with it a selection of salads, ravioli, gnocchi and risotto dishes, along with several entrees worth trying.

Get the warm shrimp salad ($9), a combination of rock shrimp, ricotta salata (a dry, salted cheese with a sharp, almost tangy flavor), green beans, tomatoes and mint, with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a touch of olive oil.

The chicken with artichokes ($18.50) was simply outstanding, one of the best chicken dishes in town. Paired with Gaeta olives, garlic, laurel and balsamic vinegar, this entree has flavor written all over it. Crispy polenta is the interesting and appropriate starch served with this dish.

Veal involtini ($22.50) is a pan-fried, thin, tender slice of veal stuffed with fontina cheese and mortadella (a famous Italian-style cold cut with added garlic flavor), with fresh asparagus and house potatoes. The veal chop ($23.50) is stuffed with bread crumbs, prosciutto and fontina, with a touch of sweet Marsala wine. A porcini mushroom risotto rounds out this plate.

Although there's no osso bucco on this menu, there is a lamb shank ($24) slow-cooked with tomatoes, garlic, and rosemary that I know you'll enjoy. This is served with herbed orzo (tiny, rice-shaped pasta, slightly smaller than a pine nut).

A must-try dessert is the Parmesan gelato ($10.50) experience, composed of a savory creamed mixture made from Parmigiano Reggiano that you spread on grilled slices of Tuscan-style bread, top with slices of wine-poached pear drizzled with honey, and top with candied walnuts.

I enjoy this restaurant a lot. Swiss-born Marc Andres is a phenomenal waiter who makes everyone he comes in contact with feel special. You may remember him from Ninnikuya or the old Phillip Paolo's on Beretania. With chef Julian in the back, Andres out in front, and owner Carla Magziar overseeing every move, C&C is sure to please even the most discriminating person. BYOB, and mangi nella buona salute (eat in good health).

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.