Brittany L. Morgan
Overall: Il Barilotto Enoteca is an innovative restaurant in the heart of Fishkill. The menu is an eclectic mix of Italian, French, and Spanish influenced dishes. Il Barilotto Enoteca is not your traditional Italian restaurant. Don’t go looking for cannollis or parmigiano on the menu, you won’t find it. However, you will find traditional Italian dishes with a twist, like their “Papparedelle al Ragu' D'Anatra,” which blends pasta with Tuscan-style duck ragu and fresh herbs. The best thing about all the dishes we ordered was the size. We had plenty left over for the next day.
Ambience: Make note that parking can be an issue on busy nights, but once inside the cozy interior, thoughts of parking vanish. With their dim interior lighting and candle-lit tables, the ambience is perfect for date night. The bar area can be a bit noisy, but overall it’s warm and inviting.
Appetizer: My boyfriend, Bill, and I decided to share the Fritto misto. It was a heaping bowl of matchstick vegetables flash fried with a crispy outer shell. The best part of the appetizer was the delicious roasted red pepper aioli that accompanied the vegetables for dipping. Bill doesn’t care for anything in the vegetable family, but quickly devoured this dish. The vegetables were fresh and crisp and seasoned to perfection.
Entrée: Bill had the “Spaghetti Alla Chitarra con Tanti Pomodorini.” I have to admit, I was a little jealous after sneaking a bit of his dish. Perfectly cooked, al dente spaghetti smothered in extra virgin olive oil, garlic, sliced baby tomatoes and julienned fresh basil. The flavors were a perfect marriage. Tangy. According to our waiter, all the pasta used at Il Barilotto Enoteca is imported from Italy. I opted for the “Strozzapreti Alla Salsiccia Nostrana” a wonderfully rich tomato cream sauce, fresh peas, and house made sausage covered “priest-chokers” pasta, which get’s it colorful name from an old legend that told of gluttonous priests choking to death over the delicious pasta. The pasta was cooked to perfection. The tomato cream sauce had a tangy, spicy kick, which was a nice surprise.
Dessert: By the end of the meal, we were pretty full, but the Panna Cotta on the dessert menu was calling our name. The panna cotta, a mixture of cooked cream and gelatin, was rich and creamy. It was sweet, but not overbearing. The best part of the panna cotta was the orange marmalade on top. The slivers of orange zest mixed with the velvety texture of the panna cotta were a match made in heaven!