Folino Estate is housed in an Italian-style villa
overlooking farmland and vineyards near Kutztown. One of the owners has
experience as an interior designer, which is evident in the décor and finishes
at the Estate. Upon entering through the beautiful huge wooden door, you arrive
in an indoor open foyer area that resembles an Italian piazza, with a fountain,
brick/stone floors/walls, and strung overhead with vintage-looking white lights;
the effect is attractive and lets you know that you are somewhere special. The
restaurant itself is enormous, with high vaulted beamed ceilings, a multi-story
dual-sided fireplace, leather banquette seating along two sides, attractive
wooden tables and chairs, and interesting chandeliers. An attractive bar where
you can eat and drink turns into a pizza counter (with a wood-burning pizza oven)
at the other end. We particularly liked the unique wine glass chandeliers hung
over the bar. An outdoor patio runs the length of one side of the villa, and bistro
tables and chairs are available to enjoy a drink or a meal. The restaurant
needs more outdoor tables and chairs, and perhaps some of that outdoor
all-weather lounge-type furniture (sofas, etc.) to encourage guests to stay
longer and get more comfortable [and therefore spend more money!]. Storing a
large quantity of furniture in the wintertime might be problematic, but the
property is huge, so they can figure a solution. Currently, it seems that they
took the furniture from the indoor piazza area and moved it to the outdoor deck,
which left a conspicuously empty space inside. The villa also houses a
banquet/event space for large parties and weddings for up to 200+ guests, including
an outdoor patio, a wrought-iron gazebo, and a (currently under construction)
waterfall. Even the restrooms are nicely outfitted and decorated (wood paneling
and flooring, interesting lighting, wrought iron leaf coat/purse hooks, accent
mirrors). Everything seems top-notch on the property except for their use of
paper (albeit with a pattern) napkins in the restaurant – a linen napkin
service would elevate the service.
Folino Estate Ristorante serves authentic Italian cuisine.
(The owners are natives of Calabria, Italy and also own Valentino’s restaurant
on Route 222 in Kutztown.) The chef formerly worked at The Bookstore in
Bethlehem and at Vintage in Easton. We ordered the calamari as an appetizer,
which was served with a red wine dijonnaise sauce (a creative twist on a
familiar dish). The calamari contained both rings and complete baby octopi “critters”,
and the dish was breaded in-house. The restaurant serves amazing bread
(although it was served icy cold and would be improved by warming it for just a
few seconds) accompanied by olive oil for dipping that contained a fantastic olive
tapenade on the bottom. The bread and oil/tapenade was so delicious that we
would return for the bread service alone! Our waitress delivered our appetizer
and the bread at the same time, instead of separately as other restaurants do,
which we would have preferred. We shared a full portion of the house salad
(which was also available as a half portion), which contained mixed field greens,
marcona almonds, gorgonzola crumbles, cucumber, and red onion tossed in a house
limoncello-olive oil vinaigrette. As entrees, we ordered the risotto di mare
and the gnocchi. The risotto contained a decent amount of seafood (mussels, shrimp,
and calamari) as well as cooked tomatoes, and the gnocchi contained peas, pancetta,
red onions, and brussel sprout leaves in a white wine cream sauce. (In the
future, the restaurant should deliver a shell bowl or plate along with the
risotto so that the diner can place his empty mussel shells there; we had to
request one when it did not appear with the dish.) For dessert, we shared the polenta
coffee cake. The ample portion (two slices) of cake was tasty, served warm with
a streusel topping and accompanied by a small spoonful of limoncello marmalade.
On the menu, numbers accompany each item with suggested wine pairings. We were pleased
with the menu, and we will definitely return a few times to try all the appealing
items.
Service was perfunctory; our waitress Amanda just seemed to
be “going through the motions” without displaying any real interest in her
customers or whether they were having a great meal. The pacing of the meal was
much too fast; we were not even finished with one course by the time our next
course arrived. We were prepared to spend much more time (and money on drinks!)
during our visit, but we were rushed out too quickly.
We had a good meal at this newish restaurant, which is
certainly beautiful and offers interesting food. We will return despite the cursory
service on our first visit.
Update October 2016 (October Birthdays):
