By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Lifestyles Editor
Yes, it’s another Italian restaurant, but what a difference. Quattro, in the new Four Seasons Silicon Valley hotel in East Palo Alto, is not your Uncle Luigi’s pizza parlor. It’s a ristorante, not a trattoria. Think Milan, not Naples.
Quattro’s executive chef is Italian-born Alessandro Cartumini, trained at restaurant schools in Stresa and Milan, Italy. He worked in five-star hotels in northern Italy before joining Four Seasons Hotels. His menus put a fresh slant on traditional dishes, using local artisanal sources.
The handsome new East Palo Alto hotel is geared to well-heeled business travelers, so it’s appropriate that “affari veloce,” which means “fast business,” is the most exciting item on the lunch menu.
“Affari veloce” is a “light bento box-style sampling of the chef’s cuisine.” Recently it featured peppered beef carpaccio with arugula salad and truffle vinaigrette; lobster and avocado salad with pickled cucumber; a grilled chicken, fontina and pesto panino (sandwich); and a tiny blood orange pannacotta ($23).
The food was beautifully presented on four separate square plates. Each dish was delightful. I loved the small portions and variety, which leave you satisfied, not stuffed.
Shrimp and crab Louie ($21) was full of nice pieces of Dungeness crab, but not unusual. There were also several choices of pizza and panini, salads, pasta, and even a beef or turkey burger ($14).
The beautiful surroundings add enormously to the pleasure of eating at Quattro. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the courtyard and water fountains.
Selections from the wine cellar are displayed alongside modern sculpture. Colorful glass art fills niches in a soaring limestone wall. Warm wood floors and rich fabrics add to the ambience.
Seated at the inlaid wood tables, we admired the china, cutlery and glassware, all sparkling and new. There are fresh flowers on the table, but no white tablecloths.
The night scene was lively at dinner on a Friday. The bar was packed and the restaurant full. Although the hotel had been open only since January 27, the word seemed to have spread among Silicon Valley’s young movers and shakers.
On the dinner menu, appetizers range from burrata with heirloom tomatoes ($12) to grilled calamari with cannellini beans ($13).
Eight pasta and risotto offerings are available as a large or small plate. Penne with olive oil-poached duck is $15 or $19. Whole wheat pappardelle with braised beef short ribs is $16 or $22.
Main courses include basil-roasted petrale sole with artichoke and saffron risotto ($28), and truffle- and Parmesan-crusted chicken scaloppini served on a bed of Tuscan kale and pancetta potatoes ($25).
We started with antipasto, one of Quattro’s signature dishes ($19). The presentation was a picture and every morsel delicious: artisan salami, pear mostarda, fresh goat cheese and pecorino drizzled with chestnut honey, olive and peperoncino salad. We were eating things like soppressata (a type of salami) and mostarda di frutta (a fruit condiment) I’d never tasted. Pecorino drizzled with honey? Spectacular.
Even the bread was outstanding: an assortment that included lavosh, olive bread, ciabatta, and, with the antipasto, wafer-thin slices of a crisp fruit and nut-laden loaf.
Black orecchiette with garlic roasted shrimp came with bits of cherry tomatoes and broccoli ($17, small). The pasta was house made and flavorful.
Our other selection was pork tenderloin medallions with gorgonzola polenta and Marsala cherry sauce ($30). The meat was succulent, but a little more sweetness in the sauce would have been nice.
We split a dessert of vanilla creme brulee with a scoop of fig ice cream and two tiny Italian cookies. All desserts are $8. “To share” choices include house-made doughnuts with coffee and chocolate anglaise ($10).
The service at both lunch and dinner was friendly, but professional. Our server on Friday night had been sent out from the Four Seasons in Philadelphia for a couple of weeks to lend a hand in the restaurant. Staff from several Four Seasons Hotels have been brought in to launch the new hotel.
If you want to check out Quattro without the expense of dinner, visit the bar for a glass of wine and “bar bites.” Barbecued beef short rib sliders ($14); a quartet of bruschetta ($11); and pizza with artichokes, mushrooms, and prosciutto cotto ($15) are some of the choices.
In the spring, a terrace with a waterfall and firepit will open for outdoor dining.
The Four Seasons Hotel has been a long-awaited development in East Palo Alto, and it’s exciting to see the 10-story luxury hotel finally open. It’s an added bonus to find it features an outstanding restaurant.
Quattro restaurant and bar is located at Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at 2050 University Ave., University Circle, East Palo Alto. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. For more information, call 566-1200 or go to quattrorestaurant.com.
