davanti enoteca

One recent evening, Laura and I went out for a girl’s night while Jake was off working at Comic Con. We made an evening of by going to the AMC Theater in La Jolla to sit in those fancy red recliners. I didn’t know it, but they have a 21+ area in the theater now where you can get your booze on while watching Magic Mike XXL or Ant-Man or something. We didn’t partake, though. I was too afraid to find out what the prices would be! After the movie (yes, we went to see Magic Mike, okay?!) we decided to have dinner in Del Mar and ended up going to Davanti Enoteca.

The first thing I loved about their menu was the whole top section was dedicated to CHEESE. Oh, be still my heart!

Ricotta, Honey Comb + Grilled Bread | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

[ricotta + honey comb + grilled pugliese bread / $8]

I actually didn’t even pick a cheese plate, but what caught my eye was ricotta! Oh, ricotta. You are such a luscious, beautiful cheese and this particular ricotta was no exception. 

Ricotta, Honey Comb + Grilled Bread | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

The ricotta is served in a little mason jar with a swirl of olive oil on top. I think that’s pepper on there, too. Along with that you get this dollop of honey comb and some freshly grilled and extra crusty bread. 


Laura and I already knew that four slices of bread was NOT going to cut it!

Ricotta, Honey Comb + Grilled Bread | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

The ricotta was creamy and almost fluffy in its consistency. It had a natural sweetness to it that was further enhanced by the fresh honey comb. The grilled bread was the perfect accompaniment – just thick enough to be a great vessel for the ricotta cheese. We ended up asking for two extra helpings of grilled bread to be able to take advantage of every single smear of that cheese! 

Raviolo alla Carbonara | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

[Uovo in Raviolo alla Carbonara … giant ravioli + spring pea and ricotta + egg + pancetta + pea tendrils + pecorino / $13]

Since one can’t live on ricotta alone (I could try though, really I could), we got two more dishes to share. This is the Raviolo, aka “it’s one giant ravioli!”. This one had a brown butter-ish kind of sauce with lots of pancetta and pecorino layering the outside.

Flowing Yolk in the Raviolo alla Carbonara | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

Once you dug into this, the yolk flows out. The raviolo is cooked just right until the egg is cooked to get this dramatic flair. The inside had a creamy ricotta + pea thing going on though the pea almost looked like pesto sauce to me. It was quite delicious with all the flavors going on! 

Pizza Mortadella | Davanti Enoteca - Del Mar, CA

[Pizza Mortadella … mozzarella + pistachio pesto + mortadella / $13]

The last item we shared was a pizza. This one doesn’t have tomato sauce but instead had plenty of mozzarella cheese, pistachio pesto (for an extra nutty kick) and thin slices of mortadella sausage on top. The pizza crust was on the softer side which didn’t thrill either Laura or I. It was a decent pizza but I felt like the pizza could have been cooked a bit longer. The flavors were interesting here but I kind of wished for a bit of a thinner crust. 

Davanti Enoteca is a cool place to come and hang out at. The plaza has lots of little spots to sit and mingle after dinner and people watch as well. I know I’m going to come back here just to eat ricotta and honey comb over and over and over again. Anyone want to join in?

Davanti Enoteca
12955 El Camino Real
San Diego, CA 92130
858-519-5060

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10 thoughts on “davanti enoteca

  1. There is no shame seeing Magic Mike XXL!! That was a couple of hours of eye-candy on a big screen, and there is nothing to apologize for. I went home and asked T if he could please go take some stripper dance classes (he said no).

    Next time you’re at Davanti, get the focaccia de recco- it’s like a thin focaccia stuffed with fresh ligurian soft cheese (like ricotta but so much better) and get a piece of honeycomb to spread on top. It is amazing and I can practically eat half all by myself (I don’t recommend doing that… I recommend ogling Channing Tatum and splitting the focaccia with at least 3 other people.)

    1. Hahah, thank you for the reassurance, Leanne 🙂 I liked the second Magic Mike better than the first! I felt like I should have been throwing dollars bills at the screen while watching it 🙂

      Like ricotta… but better?!?! Okay, yes. I will definitely have to try that next time then! That sounds like cheesy heaven to me. That honey comb just made it better!

  2. Pistachio pesto! I want to try that plus the giant ravioli. Ricotta is one of the few cheeses I like (besides brie). Tastes so good on pizza too. Very nice meal!

    1. Hi CC! The pistachio pesto was pretty darn good, I must say. If pistachios were so expensive I might want to try making that at home, too! I’ll have to look out for a pistachio sale. Ricotta and brie are my absolute favorites.

    1. I’m jealous because I want to eat that ricotta AGAIN! And then again and again… next time I’ll be like “can I have 4 more slices of bread right now please?”.

  3. I didn’t even see the first Magic Mike so I don’t get the hype over this movie 🙂 I had brunch here a few months back and didn’t think much of it. Dinner menu might be better though after seeing this. Was it humid in their patio?

    1. It’s like experiencing a male strip club without actually having to go to an actual strip club, hahaha. That’s how I see it, anyway. Besides, hellooooo hot guys! The night we went we were actually seated inside the restaurant and the windows were wide open. It was slightly chilly and not humid that evening – it was very nice, actually!

    1. Hi Lynn! I’ll have to remember that for next time… if I can tear myself away from all things with ricotta. Magic Mike is definitely fun!! Best to watch with girls though 🙂

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