"All food is prepared with pure olive oil; no cholesterol, because I believe a Good Meal should be a Healthy One." - Fausto DiCarlo

Menu

ANTIPASTI (Appetizers)
Carpaccio Di Filetto
Paper Thin Filet Antipasti Style
15.00
Calamari Fritti
Fried Calamari
9.50
Smoked Fish Combo
Salmon, trout and halibut with goat cheese, capers and onions
14.50
Cozze alla Marinara
Mussels in a secret spice sauce
10.50
Mozzarella in Carrozza
Pink sauce and capers
8.50
Clams Casino
Stuffed Littleneck clams with fine herbs and Pancetta
12.50
MINESTRE (Soup)
Pasta e Fagioli
Italian bean soup
6.00
Stracciatella Romana
Spinach in chicken broth with egg drops
6.00
INSALATE (Salads)
Insalata Italiana Tre Colori
Mixed Italian salad in Balsamic Vinaigrette
6.00
Insalata Caprese
Grilled eggplant with tomato, Mozzarella, basil and roast pepper
12.50
Insalata di Cesare
Caesar salad
6.00
Gorgonzola Pere e Noci
Radicchio with Gorgonzola, pears, and walnuts
8.50
PASTA
We suggest these pastas as an appetizer Pasta Entrée is larger in portion 21.00
Linguine Viva Napoli con Vongole Veraci
Clams, olive oil, garlic and white wine Napoli style
12.50
Timballo Abruzzese
Thin layers of pasta with ground veal, Buffala Mozzarella and nutmeg
12.50
Risotto Erotico al Pesce
Lump crabmeat with saffron over Arborio rice (Dinner portion only)
24.00
Rigatoni alla Pecoraia
Crumbled Italian sausage with fresh tomato, hot pepper and saffron
10.50
Gnocchi alla Contadina
House specialty… a must have
10.50
Pappardelle della Nonna
Homemade pasta in pink sauce
12.50
Cannelloni Imbottiti alla Perugina
Excellent… ask Fausto
12.50
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Even better
12.50
Tortellini 3 “P”
Tortellini stuffed with veal in a light cream sauce with peas and Prosciutto
10.50
Ravioli di Ricotta
Big ravioli stuffed with sweet Ricotta in a pink sauce
10.50
18% gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more
PESCE (Fish)
Pesce Spada alla Calabrese
Swordfish with capers, olive oil, garlic and white wine
23.00
Zuppa di Pesce Posillipo
Langoustine, mussels, calamari in olive oil, garlic, fresh tomato and hot pepper over linguini
29.00
Gamberoni alla Siciliana
Jumbo shrimp with olive oil, garlic, wine, hot pepper over linguini
24.00
Salmone con Prosecco, Pomodoro e Basilico
In a Champagne sauce
23.00
Please Ask for Fish Special of the Day We Only Use Fresh Seasonal Catch
POLLO (Chicken)
Petti di Pollo Valdostana
Chicken with eggplant and Mozzarella in a pink sauce
21.00
Pollo al Mattone
Cornish hen marinated and grilled with a brick on top
21.00
Pollo alla Parmigiana
Chicken Parmigiana
19.50
Pollo Cacciatore
Fausto’s Specialty
19.50
VITELLO (Veal)
Nodini di Vitello ai Pepi
Veal chop with peppercorns, rosmarino and demiglace
32.00
Vitello Classico Parmigiana
Veal Parmigiana
21.00
Scallopine alla Marsala
Demiglace, Marsala, mushrooms and cheese
24.00
Piccata al Limone
Veal medallions in wine and lemon
24.00
Rollatini di Vitello ai Funghi
Rolled veal with Prosciutto, cheese and mushrooms
24.00
Vitello Griglio
Medallions of veal , basil, tomatoes, wild mushroom, rucula
24.00
BISTECCHE (Steaks)
Filetto ai Pepi
Center cut filet grilled with garlic and fine Italian Herbs
29.00
Bistecca Pizzaiola
Strip steak with capers, garlic, olives and tomato
29.00
Agnello Rosmarino
Lamb in a rosemary demiglace
32.00
All dinner entrees served with vegetables and garlic bread
CONTORNI (Side Dishes)
Patatine Fritte
Italian style potato frie
6.00
Cime di Rapa
Sautéed with garlic and olive oil
8.00
Dolci
Assorted desserts
6.00
Lampadina di Fine Pranzo
Special drink of the house
8.00
Espresso 2.50
Cappuccino 3.00
Tea 1.50
Coffee 1.50
No separate checks please. Minimum charge per person $10.50

YouTube Channel


Dining Out

Master Chef serves up savory Italian dishes
By Don Klein


Fausto DiCarlo, owner of Ristorante Antipasti, is not boasting when he says, “Only in America can I make a Wendy’s into an Italian villa.”

He is talking about the new location for his gourmet restaurant at 31 st Street and Coastal Highway which not to long ago was slinging hamburgers and other fast food specialties. Today it is one of the finest sit down restaurants in Ocean City.

After 10 years of operation two blocks to the north at 33 rd Street, the restaurant moved this past winter when Wendy’s vacated the location. It was just what Fausto was looking for. It turns out the move did not dampen the enthusiasm customers had developed for Fausto’s dishes over the past decade.

“Last Saturday (just days after opening at the new location) was our biggest night ever in the 10 years we have been in Ocean City”, he declared in a recent interview.

Fausto brags that the food he serves is the same as you would get in Italy. We are on a par with restaurants in Florence and Rome,” he insists. “Italian food is simple, no butter, no saturated fats, no cholesterol, no heavy doses of garlic and thick tomato sauces.”

The master chef, whom everyone calls Fausto, learned his trade at his mother’s side in Controguerra, a town in the Abruzzi region of Italy. His mother, Ninetta DiCarlo, now 92, is still considered among the 50 top chefs in Italy. Fausto visits her every November for family reunions and also to pick her brain for tips and new recipes.

The visits paid off when Fausto found himself on the U.S. Food Network a few years ago and was ruled a winner. He earned the rank of one of the top five pasta restaurants in the country. The winning dish is called timballo Abrussese, a lasagna-like delight with thin pasta layers covering tantalizing ground veal, buffalo mozzarella and nutmeg filling. The result is gentle on the palate and less filling than lasagna.

“They still show the program featuring that dish on the Food Network in reruns”, he cheerfully noted. This award allows Ristorante Antipasti to advertise this pasta triumph for all to see on the giant new sign in the front of the restaurant.

Many of today’s Americans have traveled to Italy and tasted the light dishes that are popular there, making Fausto’s style much more appealing than past Italian fare in the neighborhoods.

Reading the restaurant’s menu I like opening an Italian-English dictionary. The dishes are written in Italian and numbered so if you can not pronounce “Rollatini di Vitello ai Funghi“ you can order number 35 and receive a repast of rolled veal with prosciutto, cheese and mushrooms.

The unique attraction at the eatery is its fine display of appetizers laid out on a long table inside the entrance. The festive looking assembly includes paper-thin antipasti, calamari, salmon, trout and halibut with goat cheese, onions and capers, littleneck clams, mussels and other tangy bite-size treats.

The menu includes savory soups, salads, pasta, seafood, chicken, veal and steak. During our visit the specials were a giant steak (believed to be about three pounds worth) with appropriate seasoning designed for two healthy beefeaters and a robust striped bass from the west coast for seafood lovers.

For those who want authentic Italian desserts Fausto offers a mixed berry tart and what is called a thousand layer zabaglione shipped to him directly from Italy plus the standard house-made fare of the cannoli, tiramisu line. If you are longing for that endangered specie, the great invisible tortoni, which you can hardly find these days, he might even zap one up for you even if it is not on the menu.

Fausto is a stickler for authenticity. He even imported from Italy the paint used to decorate the restaurant. It is called Tuscany country style terra cotta and he used two different shades for the walls and ceilings. It is a warm rich color in what can best be described as an orange-brown. “At night it glows,” he said. It is hard to describe, you must see it first hand to appreciate it.

Decorations include three moderns shaped chandeliers, two large mirrors, a multitude of different size paintings and plenty of plants loaded with flowers. All in all it is a welcoming atmosphere.

Fausto calls eating at Ristorante Antipasti a culinary trip to today’s Italy. He has a proverb about food: “Pasta is like sex, when it’s good it’s like heaven, even when it’s bad it’s not so bad.”

Specials


Ristorante Antipasti

Thursday Night
Half Price World Famous Garlic Steak