However, after about 7 years Tuscany became
distracted. The economy was down and affected upscale restaurants. Most
people had looked upon the restaurant as a "dress up"
destination. Unfortunately, a business associate who thought a cardigan
sweater and a baseball cap were a fashion statement demanded to become the
greeter-host while Barletta ran the dining room and supervised the
kitchen. Unfortunately this host seemed to be auditioning to replace
Walter Matthau in "Grumpy Old Men 3". At the same time, a number
of waiters thought that they were the reason for the success of the
restaurant rather than the food and put on performances instead of
serving. Zagat’s guide noted that some patrons reported an
“attitude” problem.
Barletta recognized and attacked these precarious
problems. However, it took a lot of time and energy. He rolled up the sleeves of his Armani styled clothing (he
claims they come from Nordstrom's rack) and turned things around. The
restaurant was enlarged, remodeled and now has the intimate European
feeling of 4 separate rooms, two of which are available for private
parties.
Watching him fly around the restaurant on a
Friday or Saturday night with eyes that are everywhere tells you why
Tuscany recovered and is considered one of the three finest restaurants
North of the Santa Monica mountains. Incidentally, the renowned Piero
Selvaggio of Valentino’s and Joaquin Splichal of Patina operate the
other two, located in the San Fernando Valley.
The menu is not inexpensive, but it is fair. All
of the ingredients are top-line and prepared at high levels. Meats are
prime. Much of the fish is sushi or sashimi quality. Appetizers and salads
range from about $6 for most soup to $9-10 for carpaccio or portobello
mushroom salads with crabcakes and lobster -shrimp salads slightly higher.
