Panevino is seductive. Unlike Italian restaurants that depend on wall paintings of Venice and statues of the gods and goddesses to romance their patrons, this gustatory opera counts on every course — antipasto, soup, salad, pasta, entree, and sweet — to woo with abandon and deliver love to every one of its diners.
The ingredients are homemade — yes, even the mozzarella — at culinary maestro David Brennan’s insistence: every single dish is thoughtfully focused on the joy of eating.
Really, just swoon and give yourself over. By first bite, you are already ensnared, planning your next romantic rendezvous with Panevino.
LOVE AT FIRST BITE
Here’s a taste of why. Begin with mellow, lightly tangy La Lastra Chianti wine, on black-mottled smooth marble tables, where you and your date, or your party of friends and family, have ample space apart from other customers for a truly private conversation. Warm, oven-baked, country-style rolls arrive at the table. And then come the appetizers.
The antipasti include Fried Calamari, Sautéed Shrimp, Beef Carpaccio, and Pan Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras. But the simple Caprese begs to be sampled. The platter is prettily arranged, the diva being wholesome, fresh, firm, pure mozzarella casually drizzled with pesto and virgin olive oil across roasted peppers, plum tomatoes, and sweet basil leaves … suddenly, it’s summer again.
Next is the classic Pasta Fagioli, with its honest cannelloni beans so happily married to their bowl-mates: torn pieces of soft pasta in a tomato base with a medley of other vegetables, suffused with the subtlest of herbs carrying the bouquet.
There is another soup that must not be skipped. Someone at the table (someone who is good at sharing, that is) should commit to ordering the Cream of Five Onion Soup, attended by a Fontina fritter. Lightly sweet, like honey on the spoon in its consistency, this cream-cream-creamy concoction has a roasted sensibility to it, and it is positively addictive. It’s scrumptious beyond words. That indescribable flavor coats every corner of your mouth with a purr, and so back goes the spoon into the bowl for one more, one more, one more spoonful. As the waiter approaches, be quick—lick the spoon. Enjoy this very guilty pleasure.
Just when it seems like tastebuds might never recover from that soup experience is when the Arugula shows up. This dish pretends to be a simple salad, just dark green leaves with gently cut bits of Gorgonzola cheese strewn throughout, maybe some olive oil, with pear slices lying across it, too. But the combination of choice arugula-cheese-pear with delectable dressing proves blissfully refreshing. And there’s more: This salad embeds itself in a golden-orange-colored sculpture—which is, in fact, an edible Parmesan-crusted bowl, with a taste so cheesily robust and browned and just a bit chewy (similar to the pan-browned edges of a wonderful cheese omelet) that “couples are known to fight over the last bite,” says the waiter. “Not a bad fight,” he says, slyly, “a good fight.”
The Lump Crab pizza and other super-thin Tuscan crust pizzas all entice. They look like they’ve just slid out from an ancient brick oven, edges curling up. The Caramelized Onion pizza loaded with sweet Italian sausage and Asiago truly ratchets up the eating now, as each course vies to prove itself more devoted to the stomach than the last. It’s hard to keep up. This time, the pungent yet delicate sausage flavor lifts itself smack up onto the palate, permeating the mouth, where the onions play second fiddle, most appropriately.
THE MAIN EVENT
For main courses there are favorites for every palate—veal, steak, chicken, eggplant, seafood. Travel to Bologna with the Cavatelli, though. These thin little pasta bullets, slit down the middle, which rest in a pure white pasta bowl with deep sides, come alive with a full-bodied meat and tomato sauce, simmered for hours to perfection. This is a dish that activates a special part of your heart, the moonstruck memory that’s tied to your fondest memories of Italian home cooking. Reading, the city, and all of everyday life, are worlds away.
THE GOODNIGHT KISS
Specialty drinks and desserts crown the night. Toss caution to the wind with the Cappuccino Crème Brulee. Its hardened top is a tan skating rink sprinkled with powdered sugar; when spoon breaks through the ice on that creamy pond, it falls into a center softly warm with sweet coffee flavor. Equally satisfying is the Chocolate Warm Brioche Bread Pudding with Bananas Foster, as lusty as a high note in a baritone aria.
FINDING PANEVINO
Finding Panevino is a cinch: Located on the ground floor of the parking lot opposite Reading’s IMAX theater and RACC’s Miller Center for the Arts, it’s just across the street from GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. Boscov’s statue stands nearby on the sidewalk outside the restaurant, as if Albie himself were giving the blessing: “You want an amazing meal? Here—right over here!” The address is 25 N. 2nd St., Suite 5, Reading, 19601. Call for reservations at 610-376-1101 and see the menu online at www.panevinoreading.com.
Oh, and parking could not be easier. Park in the public lot off Washington Street, and the restaurant is but 30 yards from the garage exit door.
PANEVINO25 N. 2nd St., Suite 5Readingpanevinoreading.com DINNER Served 4:30pm-close (Tues. - Sun.) RESERVATIONScall 610.376.1101 DRESS smart casual
Marian Wolbers | photos by Heidi Reuter
