Al Forno?s is real Italian. We started out with a bruschetta combination. Instead of tomato and cheeses on a traditional thin, dry slice of bread, this bruschetta comes on a thick chewy half roll, warm and fresh. It?s absolutely delicious and the stuff that you find yourself craving days after you?ve last tasted it.\r
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Our dinners were the linguini fradiavolo and the lasagna verde. The linguini fradiavolo is made with ?Prawns, garlic & herbs in a spicy tomato sauce? and has just the right balance of garlic and tomato on top of linguini cooked to the perfect consistency: not hard and crunchy, not soft and mushy. In most Italian restaurants, the tomato based sauces rest on the tomato to carry the flavor. But the sauce on the linguini fradiavolo is thin (in a good way) and full of flavor, the tomato simply adding to the nutty garlic and spices, rather than overpowering it.\r
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The lasagna verde is a traditional vegeterian lasagna with layers of firm pasta and cheeses with thin bits of spinach, smothered in a homemade tomato sauce. Again, the pasta was well cooked and the balance of cheeses was just right, the flavor overall mild and perfectly complimentary. I prefer my lasagna a little more unusual (lasanga bolognese anyone?) because most traditional lasagna?s have no imagination at all and the flavor suffers, but Al Forno?s follows the old adage of using the best ingredients in order to carry a traditional recipe, and the lasagna shines because of it.\r
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Al Forno?s has a small, simple wine menu with a few selections to perfectly compliment the food. The chianti that we selected added just the right flavor to the overall experience. The staff is very attentive and knowledgeable and is a lot of fun to talk to, the food brought out in a clean, simple presentation. The atmosphere is very low key and relaxed, but surprisingly classy given the strip-mall exterior.\r
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