MORGANTOWN'S STEFANO'S

There is a long Italian heritage in Morgantown due to immigrants making their way from Italy.  Clarksburg is just Southwest of Morgantown and the home to the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, which I missed by about a month.  Needless to say I needed to partake in some great Italian food and found Stefano's (www.stefanosmorgantown.com) on Chestnut Ridge Rd. located below a bowling alley (although it's not obvious while you're eating).

A tasting was my request that began with a amuse bouche of a stuffed cherry tomato.  Whatever it was stuffed with certainly tasted great.  Out comes the bread which I would not have necessarily eaten if it weren't for the olive tapenade.

Two Antipasti dishes.  Stefano's Meatball is a large meatball stuffed with fresh mozzarella cheese, topped with Stefano's Meat Sauce.  What a meatball!  Here's a take on mac and cheese called Aragosta e Formaggio.  Broiled lobster served over lobster and mascarpone ditalini pasta, baked with herbed bread crumbs.

Where up to the Zuppa e Insalata.  Nuovo Nicoise has tomato, applewood bacon, boiled eggs, olives and Taleggio cheese over spinach and Bibb lettuce finished with a tomato vinaigrette and potato chips (made on the premises).  Another salad of endive cups filled with arugula, golden apple, apricots and walnuts finished with maytag (not the washing machine) cream and apple cider Vinaigrette.

I choose a pesce vs a carne, Spigola.  Pan roasted Seabass over lobster and asparagus risotto finished with lobster conssume and parsnip crisps.

There's always room for dessert.  I'll have to get back on this as I don't remember what it was.  All was delicious!