Dining Reviews

To call a restaurant a default choice may sound like damning with faint praise, but let's look at it from two points of view: 



1) You and a group of hungry friends are trying to decide on a restaurant. Names start flying like confetti. No one can agree. Someone says something like, “Hey, how about the Generic House O' Noodles?” Shrugs all around. Grunts and mumbles of vague assent. Halfway through the meal, everyone thinks of somewhere else they'd rather be.



2) You and a group of hungry friends are trying to decide on a restaurant. Names start flying like confetti. Someone suggests Pane e Vino, in Brea. Light bulbs appear over everyone's head. Sudden smiles of recognition. Instant agreement. Halfway through the meal, everyone is thinking up excuses to stick around.




If the second scenario sounds like the sort of default choice you can live with, then put a visit to Pane e Vino on your calendar posthaste. The place is further proof (if any were really needed) that northern OC is hardly a culinary wasteland. Downtown Brea and its environs, for example, are fairly bristling with good to very good eateries, and Pane e Vino continues to stand firmly in the upper echelon. It's quiet, cozy and attractive, with a little side patio for fair-weather dining, a convivial little bar for casual imbibing and white paper-topped tables that may evoke memories of your favorite big-city bistros. 



The place has real pedigree, courtesy of chef/owner Claudio Marchesan. Born in northern Italy, Marchesan has worked on teams that have opened such celebrated franchises as Prego and Il Fornaio. In Southern California, the Brea Pane e Vino location is the latest in a group that includes restaurants in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Montecito and Santa Barbara. 



The fare is northern Italian, and excellent examples of the style abound. The dishes, however, tend toward the lighter end of the northern Italian cuisine spectrum, without compromising flavor, texture or spiciness.

Call it a paradox, but this is hearty-tasting food that will leave you with room for dessert. 

For those who usually eschew the bread and butter at the beginning of a meal, I urge you to try at least a few bites of the fine bread and excellent olive tapenade that Pane e Vino offers. It wakes up the taste buds in a big way. 



For example, I was a bit skeptical when I ordered the soup of the day as a starter. Garbanzo bean soup with spinach pasta sounded a bit too rugged and filling for a meal in mid-August. Hardly. Substantial it certainly was – with a fine piquant broth and diced potatoes as well – but the lingering effect was one of delicacy and tangy satisfaction. 



For my entrée I went to the grill section of the menu – always a good choice at this restaurant – and ordered the pounded chicken paillard. This is a skinless breast of chicken pounded thin, spiced with rosemary and sage and served covered with arugula and thinly grated chunks of parmesan cheese. It's all served with a side of quartered roasted red potatoes. Northern Italian? Certainly. Disarmingly light? Absolutely. And the combination of flavors and textures, particularly the arugula and cheese, was dazzling. The potatoes were finely roasted to a light brown and, again, pleasingly lightweight. This is simple food made memorable by imagination. 



There was easily room for a little dessert, and the crème caramel, made in-house, was cool and creamy and just sweet enough. A fine Pinot Grigio from the by-the-glass part of the nicely representative wine list rounded out the meal. 

Pane e Vino a default restaurant? Think of it more as a go-to. OCM 


Pane e Vino 
240 S. Brea Blvd. 
Brea; 714.256.7779