THEY’RE ON A ROLL
Fresh, house-made ingredients help Mamma Mia Panini Italian Deli stand out
There are some things that will impress you about Mamma Mia Panini Italian Deli, a small new restaurant on the Truxtun extension. The first is the rolls, freshly made as it seems almost every sandwich shop must do to compete nowadays. Unlike offerings at Jersey Mike’s or Subway, these are crusty, firm on the exterior, bakery-quality French rolls that smell fabulous. Since this is primarily a sandwich shop, that’s important.
The second impressive note came from the meatballs made by chef Franco Mari, who owns the place with his wife, Melannie.
Mari, a Rome native who was there in chef’s whites complete with high hat on a random Monday, has an accent so thick that you knew before you tasted the meatballs that they had to be good, and indeed they were. The pesto and the juicy red tomatoes (he’s got a great connection) used on the sandwiches were also impressive.
The third impressive note came from two reviews posted on the wall when he was owner/operator of a restaurant in Whittier named Franco Trattoria, one written by one of my journalistic idols, Merrill Shindler, a pen name of a man who’s been writing in the L.A. area for decades and now has his freelance dining columns online via the Daily Breeze website. He’s done radio gigs over the years, too. If you impress Merrill, you impress me.
My issue is that the pictures show the kitchen making pastas in a full-blown Italian restaurant and, at this point, Mamma Mia is merely a sandwich shop and a bit lonely at that since too many people in the offices nearby are probably working at home. There is a patio, but the crowds aren’t there to support it yet.
It was a one-man operation and no one else was there until four of Bakersfield’s finest stopped in to grab lunch. They, like me, wisely chose the daily special, the meatball sandwich ($10.95), though I also sampled the roast beef and turkey ($8.95), both made with arugula and pesto.
Just looking at the sandwich ingredients you could tell that this is not a franchised operation, with the thinly sliced roast beef looking definitely higher end. But the meatballs were so perfect, and he’d put any cheese you wanted on it (provolone is a natural fit), toasting the freshmade bun if you request it.
Don’t rush it. This is not fast food. And if they’re available, get the meatballs, although a friend said the roasted eggplant is good, too.
And I must put a plug in for breakfast, which is available until 10:30 a.m.
There are two choices: avocado toast ($4.95), which you can practically get anywhere nowadays, and something that I’d not yet sampled in my long life but now regret all the wasted years: Italian toast with ricotta cheese and orange marmalade ($4.95). Think of it as amped-up cream cheese toast, the soft white Italian cheese a perfect partner for the marmalade. This alone is worth a visit in the morning. Also, both toasts come with coffee.
Here’s hoping that when all this virus crap is in the
dustbin of history that the culinary creations Shindler raved about in Whittier make an appearance in this space in Bakersfield. Sure enough, a month after I visited during the first week of September, Mari offered penne pasta, with tomato sauce, ricotta and Parmigiano cheese as a special. That looks like a promising trend.