Saltimbocca - Modern Italian Cucina

Along with a large party of about a dozen other guests, I ate dinner at new Italian restaurant Saltimbocca.  Located in the Maʻalaea Harbor Shops, the space was formerly home to Maʻalaea Grill and then Maʻalaea Waterfront Restaurant, which recently closed its doors in August 2013.

The venue itself is beautiful, and always has been, with views of Maʻalaea Harbor and Haleakalā.  There are also patio tables available, however it might be safer to sit inside since Maʻalaea is ranked the second windiest harbor in the world (Wellington Harbor of New Zealand's North Island is the windiest).  The only drawback for the restaurant's owners is that there's not much foot traffic.  So on this Tuesday night we had almost half the restaurant to ourselves.  But for some reason it still took almost half an hour after ordering before we finally got our appetizers.

On my side of the table, we started off with classic bruschetta.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Italian cuisine, this appetizer had three pieces of thinly sliced toast loaded with garlic oil, basil, and tomatoes.  It was...okay.  I probably would've ended up with the same result had I tried making it myself.

Side of Eggplant Parmesan.

My husband and I shared the caesar salad: romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, and croutons, drizzled with house-made ceasar dressing, and topped with an anchovy.  I thought the addition of the anchovy was terrible.  It was too strong and I could taste it in every bite, even on the pieces of lettuce that weren't touching the fish.  The salad also lacked crunch with disappointing, stale croutons.

Instead of choosing a main dish, I ordered the beef carpaccio appetizer along with a side of eggplant parmesan.  Because I recently decided to eat a gluten-free diet*, it took me a while to figure out what to order since I couldn't eat any pasta.  The beef carpaccio, thinly sliced beef tenderloin under an arugula and parmesan salad, was excellent.  The beef was well-flavored and very moist with the dijon dressing.  The tomato sauce was heavy on the eggplant parmesan, however the eggplant was tender and I thoroughly enjoyed the dish even though I'm not a huge fan of eggplant.

We were too full to try any dessert.  Plus my husband and I had to make an early exit as the children were getting fussy.  Another important note, there was no kiddie menu!  How's that for a "family" restaurant?

Overall, Saltimbocca was so-so.  The pricing was reasonable with appetizers ranging from $8-$14 and the pasta dishes at $16-$19.  I will give them credit for using organic and local ingredients.  I'm a strong advocate for buying local, especially when it's fresh Maui produce.  BUT, I probably won't dine there again.  Been there done that.  If I ever want Italian food I'll stuff my face at Marco's Grill & Deli.  And that's a whole other restaurant review.

Beef Carpaccio with Eggplant Parmesan in the background.

*There was nothing on the menu that indicated they had gluten-free options.  However, upon looking over the website to aide in the writing of this review, I do see that they have vegan and gluten-free menus!  Why I wasn't informed of this, I do not know.  Should I be demanding gluten-free options at every restaurant?  As a newbie I'm not aware of the protocols of the gluten-free lifestyle lol.