Italian Dining at Clemenza’s Restaurant in Miramar Beach
When we told a friend and
neighbor that we were heading to Destin/Miramar Beach Florida to visit our Cove vacation home getaway, he mentioned his recently departed dear friend and former neighbor that moved there a while back and opened a restaurant.
He credited his old friend Dominic Damiano with not only introducing him to his wife, but finding his eventual family home, and, talked about them playing polo together in the early days of our equestrian community here.
The local Emerald Coast Magazine wrote that when “Dominic Damiano moved to the Emerald Coast in 2008, life was almost perfect except he couldn’t find good Italian food. His group of friends and family who had moved from different parts of Italy to Destin, also missed the flavors of home, so they decided to open their own restaurant, Fat Clemenza’s, and do what they do best — serve up recipes passed down for generations”.
Fat Clemens’s Restaurant is named for the legendary chef/cook in the Godfather movie series, the restaurant was in many ways modeled after Tufano’s which he owned in an Italian neighborhood in Chicago.
“It’s important to me to stay true to tradition and heritage, which is why we import a lot of ingredients,” said Damiano. “I want customers to experience these dishes as my family would, to feel like part of the family when here.”
“The eggplant parmigiana.is made from Damiano’s grandmother’s recipe, the Fresh Fish special is caught locally. The olive oils, pasta, tomatoes, flour and seasonings are imported from Italy. Twice a week, a shipment of sausage arrives from Chicago. All other ingredients, especially seafood, is sourced locally.”
So, we made it a point to dine at the restaurant, almost walking distance, from our vacation home, certainly within biking distance as we rode past it earlier in the week on our way to the post office.
The extensive menu features Italian fare, wood fired pizzas, calzones, a broad selection of two dozen pasta dishes, and a variety of traditional Italian meat dishes. Naturally, we ordered Italian Chef’s Specialties from the menu - Linda the Pasta Shells in Marinara Sauce, and I ordered a benchmark staple, Veal Parmiagana with Pasta. Both were delicious, served promptly, piping hot in ample portions.
Stuffed Shells - Large shells stuffed with ricotta & served with choice of sauce.
Veal baked in a marinara sauce with mozzarella and parmesan served with Angel hair pasta.
For a wine accompaniment with our entrees, we ordered two wines by the glass - WBTG - from the modest, limited but carefully selected wine list featuring seventeen reds and a dozen whites, predominantly Italian.
When I inquired about whether they had a Brunello Di Montalcino our server came by with one select bottle. It was premium priced, beyond our basic moderate meal, so we opted for two glasses of Italian staples.
From the wine selection, displayed on the counter adjacent the kitchen, separating the dining rooms, I had a glass of the Zingari Tuscan Blend.
Petra Zingari Tuscan Red Wine 2019
Zingari Toscana Rosso is an ambitious project headed by the father and daughter team of Vittorio and Fancesca Moretti, through Gruppo Terra Moretti, the wine empire of the Lombard developer Vittorio Moretti, which extends over several vineyards, run by his daughter Francesca.
Moretti is based at the southernmost tip of the province of Livorno in the hills of the Val di Cornia. In the vineyards, red varieties are cultivated on rich soils - among them the Tuscan flagship varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but also some Syrah and Alicante. The slopes of the Petra vineyard are also planted with white Malvasia, Trebbiano, Clarette and Vermentino varieties which are intended for sweet wines.
The Moretti's are known for producing some of Italy's best sparkling wines, but we are constantly drawn back to this Super Tuscan blend of Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah and Petit Verdot from their vineyards in the Tuscan Coastal area of Val di Cornia. The Petra estate has a special ecosystem, warm climate and soils in the green belt of the Colline Metallifere, near the Montioni Natural Park, with the Poggio Tre Cancelli Natural Reserve, up to the Sterpaia Coastal Park, looking over the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The wine gets its name and traces its roots to an ancient water spring that was a stop-over for pilgrims and wayfarers who were travelling along the Aurelia Street, hence the name Zingari (Gipsies), that would seek refreshment by resting near its crystal clear waters
This label release is a uniqueTuscan blend of Merlot, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot and Syrah. It was awarded 90 points by Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator who also granted it #29 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2019.
Winemaker Notes - “Highly concentrated ruby color, which introduces the Mediterranean aromatic notes of this wine. Soft and full-bodied in mouth, it has a fresh flavor with good acidity and a structure with balsamic and mineral notes that make Zingari pleasant and interesting.”
Wine Spectator refers to “flavors of tomato leaf, juniper and sanguine notes”. Danielle Callegari of Wine Enthusiast cites “A reduced nose of freshly poured tar and sulfur meets a luxurious contrast of muddled raspberry and strawberry, before hints of top soil and tobacco emerge …. turns to fresher red fruit, mostly cherry, with soil and gravel,” and calls it “Linear but substantial tannins and a firm backbone of acid work well together.”
Bright Ruby colored, medium bodied, a bit disjointed cacophony of with somewhat obtuse bright forward black cherry and plum fruits with notes of bramble, cedar earthiness, tobacco and bright acid with modest gripping tannins.
RM 88 points.
To accompany Linda’s Ricotta cheese stuffed shells with Marinara Sauce, we ordered a glass of the Aziano Ruffino Chianti Classico Sangiovese.
Aziano Ruffino Chianti Classico 2021
Vibrant and inviting. The Sangiovese based wines of the Chianti Classico regions are characterized by notes of sweet violet, red berries and wild cherries with slightly spicy undertones
Ruffino dates back to 1877 when cousins Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino, hailing from Tuscany, establishing a small winery in the town of Pontassieve near Florence, the region with a centuries-old tradition of growing exceptional wine grapes.
The area is known for ideal terroir for producing wines - mineral-laden soils, the cooling influence of the Mediterranean Sea, the dry summers that favor wine grapes, and sun-drenched hills.
Ruffino became known for clean, balanced wines, adopting the motto “here we make ideal wine.” After the Second World War, Ruffino purchased the first of its Tuscan estates, the Villa di Montemasso in the Chianti Classico region. Ruffino continued to invest in new vineyards and became one of the first major wineries with vineyard estates in Italy's three most renowned wine-producing regions: Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
Ruffino Chianti has become a benchmark for Tuscan wines around the world. When Chianti first became recognized as a DOCG wine in 1984, Ruffino Chianti DOCG was awarded the first warranty strip.
Today, more than 140 years after its founding and more than 90 years after the release of Riserva Ducale, Ruffino is a global leading brand. Ruffino's approach to making wine is based on their top vineyard sites, carefully managed vines and yields to produce the best quality of fruit.
This is the entry level every day wine of a broad portfolio that addresses every price point and provides tremendous QPR - Quality Price Ratio, perfectly paired to complement the tangy pasta dish.
Winemaker’s Notes - “Ruby red. Vibrant and inviting. The Sangiovese based wines of the Chianti Classico regions are characterised by notes of sweet violet, red berries and wild cherries with slightly spicy undertones. The finish reveals hints of aromatic herbs. Fruity and harmonious, the taste reveals velvety tannins and an elegant texture. A long and persistent aftertaste characterizes this wine.”
Bright ruby colored, medium bodied, vibrant expressive, smooth and nicely balanced red berry fruits with tangy spice and hints of tobacco and sweet mocha chocolate. Very pleasant.
RM 90 points.
