Tigelle at Tootsie’s at the Stanford Barn (Palo Alto)

[Melanie Wong]

Last week Mom and I lunched at the new caffe, Tootsie’s at the Stanford Barn. Tootsie’s is quite small, located in a separate building in the shadow of the California Café, with five marble-topped café tables inside and additional seating outdoors on the patio. We approached from the parking lot (free) that it shares with Wells Fargo. The main entrance is on Welch. Only open a few months, it was quite busy during lunch hour.

Tootsie’s stated theme is “Autentica • Caffetteria • Italiana”. The hand-written bill of fare posted overhead lists hot beverages, colazione (breakfast) served from 6:30 to 11:00, plus sandwiches, soup of the day, snacks such as arancini, and salads. Said to be named after one of Leland Stanford’s pets, Tootsie’s seemed as unlikely a place for true Italian flavors as I could imagine. Yet in one corner I spotted a blue-colored bag of Antimo Caputo pizzeria flour. The coffee is Terzi from Italy and the hot chocolate’s made with Amedei. My latte machiatto ($3.50 and more latte-like due to the greater amount of espresso) sported rich, dense foam of Clover organic milk that was almost firm when touched upon the lips.

Housebaked breads, panini, and par-baked individual-sized pizza, in combinations that change daily, are displayed on the counter in front of the open kitchen, ready to be pressed or finished to order for “slow food” fast. Every thing looked scrumptious, very fresh and appealing, but the most interesting discovery was the display of crescentina nelle tigelle. When I asked about them, the Italian cook couldn’t believe that I was familiar with the tigelle of Modena. He showed me the heavy cast metal pan used to bake them here. Later he brought over two unfilled ones on the house to-go, advising me to warm them up before eating.

Mom had a tigella filled with a bit of prosciutto cotto and fontina, $5.50, including homemade potato chips. The tigella’s nice for the small appetite, but far outshone by the outrageously good chips. They’re thick cut and fried to a crackly golden brown. The sea salt and sprinkle of fresh herbs makes them irresistible and a must-order.

For me, the roasted eggplant, red peppers, ricotta salata panino on housebaked focaccia, including choice of side salad or homemade potato chips, $7.50. The focaccia’s wonderfully light and non-oily with fragrant yeastiness, chewy texture, and grills nicely in the press. The seasoning on the sandwich was decidedly non-Italian, as I needed to add some salt, but that was easily remedied from the self-serve counter of condiments. If I weren’t watching calories, I might have added some of the extra virgin olive oil too. The green salad topped with sliced radishes and tossed with a simple vinaigrette was fresh as can be with a good ration of nutty arugula in the mix.

We were both quite satisfied with our lunch and would return. I don’t want to make this out as the second coming, but considering the desert foodscape that is Palo Alto, this kind of quality, freshness, authenticity, and price-point are a stand-out for this neighborhood.

Photos from Tootsie’s at the Stanford Barn -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/tootsiesbarn/

http://www.tablehopper.com/2009/02/chatterbox-february-3-2009.html
http://www.lavorohotel.net/job/773/so...

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Tootsie's at the Stanford Barn
700 Welch Rd Ste 118, Palo Alto, CA

[katya]

Thanks for the report! That sounds like a really good low-priced option in Palo Alto.

[Melanie Wong]

Yes, that it is. I think it says a lot that the caffe was recruiting in Italian language classifieds for its sous chef. I saw a gorgeous Insalata di asparagi at the next table, a big pile of bright green asparagus with sieved egg over top, $7.50. The soup of the day was carrot when we were there. Hope to hear more reports, since it's close to the hospitals. The website isn't working yet, and I forgot to ask for hours of operation. Maybe the next 'hound there can fill us in.

[mdg]

Thanks for the report! I'm not usually in that area but it's good to know for the future.

It sounds like the tigelle may be better in Campbell, though. It's been a while since I've been there but they were really scrumptious.

Michael

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Tigelleria Ristorante
76 East Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95009

[Melanie Wong]

A big difference is that the one time I ate at Campbell's Tigelleria, the tigelle were made to order, so hot and fresh. Here the tigelle are a little larger to be (small) sandwich size, made ahead and then reheated. Still a nice bread alternative. Btw, I've heard talk that Tigelleria is for sale (what isn't these days), so you might want to get back there sooner rather than later.