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CLICK HERE for a link to the article
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By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Magazine
Sunday, January 4, 2004
 Thank goodness for intrusive waiters.
Months ago, a friend and I were picking at our meals
in a fancy but uninspired restaurant when our conversation drifted to vacations yet to be taken and the hope of exploring someplace truly different.
"Iceland," I said, starting my wish list.
"How about Bolivia?" my pal continued.
At that precise moment, our waiter was refilling our
water glasses -- and eavesdropping. A slow smile spread across his face. His eyes lit up. It had been a while since he had been to his native Bolivia, he said,
but whenever he wanted a taste of home, he treated himself to a meal at Tutto Bene in Arlington.
"Isn't that Italian?" I asked.
He nodded, anticipating the skepticism. "Yes," he said, "but not for lunch on Saturday and Sunday."
I made a mental note to check out his suggestion, but
I kept getting distracted. New restaurants were opening up left and right, chefs were playing musical chairs and, frankly, if the 16-year-old Tutto Bene was
such a big deal, why weren't more people talking it up? Then, one night, when my plans to visit another restaurant fell through, I decided to try Tutto Bene.
Even if saltenas -- Bolivia's nod to empanadas -- were my ultimate goal, I also wanted to know how the pasta and pizza stacked up.
Tutto Bene hails from the old-fashioned,
spaghetti-and-meatballs school, all hanging plants and red banquettes. Just about every cliche you can think of turns up in its big front dining room. The murals on
the dark red walls depict the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum and Mount Vesuvius. "Vo-LAR-e!" punctuates the otherwise subdued background music,
and foil-wrapped pats of butter -- olive oil would be too trendy -- appear with your bread.
A plate of fritto misto caught me off guard. It was
piping hot, abundant with lightly breaded calamari and served with a marinara sauce that tasted fresh and spunky. The appetizer had real personality. So did a
bowl of vegetable soup, chock-full of big chunks of carrot, celery and potato in a delicate broth. Every other person walking through the door appeared to
stop at the bar to pick up a pizza order, so I followed that lead. I asked my waitress which of the handful of pies she preferred. "The white pizza!" she said
instantly. The crust was neither too thick nor too thin, nicely blistered from its time in the wood-fired oven, both chewy and crisp. A light covering of cheese,
scattered with a few sun-dried tomatoes and plenty of garlic, upped the pleasure quotient.
Those good first impressions held up among the meat
dishes and pastas. Veal is one of Tutto Bene's strong suits, be it served as a thick, juicy chop or thinly cut, showered with a forest of sliced mushrooms and
lapped with a light brandy cream sauce. A side of spaghetti and chunky tomato sauce comes with either preparation. Those for whom decisions are difficult --
or people who are really, really hungry -- can try the pasta combination, a strapping plate that brings together cannelloni, manicotti and tender,
white-cream-sauce-dressed gnocchi. It's a lot of food if you don't play in the NFL, and the cannelloni and manicotti don't measure up to the melt-in-your-mouth
gnocchi, yet it's plenty of simple satisfaction.
The Italian food is good, but my mission at Tutto Bene was Bolivian cooking. So I returned on a Saturday
afternoon to find what the waiter in the fancy restaurant had described months earlier: a foyer packed with people waiting to pick up saltenas, a dining room crowded with what appeared to be
Bolivian faces, and a host who led me past them all to a second big dining room in the rear.
Sitting by myself but in view of the fun taking place up
front, I opened the menu to see ..... fritto misto, spaghetti and pizza. I'd been handed the Italian menu! Disappointed, I flagged down a waitress and explained
I didn't want to sit in an empty dining room and I wasn't there for Italian food. She smiled sympathetically, escorted me back to the front room
and told the host that I was there for the Bolivian menu, written in Spanish.
Even before the waitress took the time to translate, I knew I was in the right place when a man at a
neighboring table excused himself from his companions and began playing guitar in the corner. The songs were clearly familiar to the families and young couples in the audience.
Trays of small, football-shaped saltenas fly in and out of the ovens in the kitchen like commuter flights at Reagan National. Pay attention to how your neighbors
tackle them. Those in the know use a spoon to remove a small piece from the top of the faintly sweet pastry, a trick that keeps the slightly soupy insides together.
There's a choice of fillings: crumbled beef or shredded chicken. Both are immensely satisfying mini-meals that also pack in raisins, chopped egg, diced potato
and sweet peas for about what it costs to buy a greeting card. You might have to ask for it, but the green sauce (llajua), a fiery puree of jalapenos, adds flames to the snack.
The detour to Bolivia doesn't end there. Sopa de mani, for instance, is a delectable ground peanut soup (though next time I'll ask them to hold the french fry
garnish, thanks). Thin slices of beef tongue, spread with a zesty brick-red sauce, cover cooked potato halves in the very good aji de lengua, while in the
soothing but plain pique a lo macho, beef strips are tossed with potatoes, onions, jalapenos and chunks of pink sausage -- everything flavored from beer in the
recipe. Aside from the saltenas, the one dish you shouldn't miss is fricase paceno, a big bowl of golden broth filled with marble-size kernels of soft white corn
and fat chunks of tender pork. Ignited by the chile known as aji amarillo, the liquid will make your lips tingle, and the meat has a robust quality that I find
missing in a lot of pork these days.
Tutto Bene lets diners sup in Little Italy during the week and lunch in the Andes on the weekend. Sign me up for both trips.
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Neighborhood Italian -Bolivian Restaurant
Tutto Bene in Arlington is an aptly named neighborhood Italian restaurant.
But it provides dinner with more than just food.
Several times a month the restaurant puts on live musicales, including concert opera with professional singers, as well as less elaborate presentations. Call the restaurant or check its Web site www.tuttobeneitalian.com for a schedule. Saturday and Sunday lunch offers, along with the regular Italian menu, an extra menu of Bolivian specialties, which draws a satisfied South American crowd. For this treat, a Latino singer/guitar player enhances the atmosphere. This family-run restaurant strives to please its customers.
 The setting is more elegant than the exterior
suggests. Two large dining rooms-there are smaller ones for private parties-means customers seldom have to wait for tables. The décor includes mural of popular Italian
treasures. The rear room boasts a grand piano and mahogany mar. White tablecloths in the evening and cloths napkins at lunch and dinner are
indication of the proprietors' concern for comfort.
Good choices to begin a family-style Italian meal are mussels in red sauce; lightly breaded fritto
misto of calamari and artichokes; and traditional clams casino. Many of the appetizers-but not the main coursed-are available in half portions.
Shiitake mushrooms, served room temperature, were adequate but overpriced at $7.95 for a modest portion. The mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette that comes with lunch is
merely okay.
Pastas are a good idea, whether ordered as a min course of shared as a first course for two. The kitchen complied with a request that the pasta be
cooked al dente. Linguine with white sauce and a dozen little neck clams and spaghetti with meat sauce were appropriately firm. When no request
was made, an order of gnocchi alla Bolognese was overcooked. Other good pasta choices have been the lasagna and the cheese ravioli. The risotto of
the say was loaded with good seafood, but it would have been better without the excess liquid.
Pizza is an important part of the kitchen's
repertory. Most people order the individual size, but the 14-inch pie is available, too. Baked in a wood-burning oven, pizza are well done, the chewy
thin crust slathered with tomato and cheese and topped with generous portion of vegetables and meat of the dinner's choice. Consider sharing a small one in lieu of a pasta course.
The main course are varied and food. Veal scallopine is a reasonable $17.95 for a substantial portion. Chicken preparations are limited to three
types of thickly sliced breast, but they carry more flavor tan usual. Coarsely ground Italian sausage is a good choice, sautéed with green peppers of a
combination platter with beef tenderloin and chicken. Two seafood dishes were winners: a large, nicely cooked Chilean sea bass and an unusual preparation of slices of monkfish with
grilled onion and tomatoes.
The weekend Bolivian lunch is not a fancy treat. The food is robust and good, served in convivial
atmosphere with musical accompaniment. Most diners stars with saltenas, a kissing cousin to the empanada, only $2.12 for a large turnover stuffed
with diced potatoes, vegetables, a few raisins, and a hint of curry. Most main courses fall into one of two categories-either a stew or meat, potatoes
(sometime French fries), vegetables, and broth, or a pounded, floured, and fried plate-size slice of beef. Sillpancho comes with a pair of fried eggs,
fried potatoes, and plenty of rice, all for $10. The menu is in Spanish, and the staff will translate.
The weekday luncheon buffet is $8.95. Typical
offerings include pizza, four pastas, including lasagna and cheese ravioli, held up well on the steam table. The tin spaghetti didn't. Mussels in
white-wine sauce were well flavored but some were dried out. The sautéed calamari was good.
The wines are more than adequate, with a broad
range of mostly Italian bottles. The wine list does not include vintages and servers cannot recite them, which confuses the process of ordering.
Desserts are the standard fare of Italian eateries-tortoni, cannoli, tiramisu, and crème caramel. The cappuccino-ice-cream pie was the best finale samples. The espresso is first-fate.
TUTTO BENE ITALIAN RESTAURANT & GRILL
501 N. Randolph St.
Arlington; 703-522-1005.
Open daily for lunch and dinner
ATMOSPHERE: Informal and relaxed.
FOOD: Traditional Italian with Bolivian weekend brunch.
SERVICE: Relaxed.
PRICE: Dinner Entrées $9.95 to $18.95, luncheon entrées $8.95 to $14, luncheon buffet $8.95.
Dinner for two $60.
VALUE: Above Average.
BOTTOM LINE: A pleasant restaurant with good food and an extra bonus on music evenings.
 The comfortable Tutto Bene in
Arlington serves a Italian food during the week and Bolivan menu on weekends.
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