Visit Da Giorgio's for delicious fare and a canal-side view of 'Venice'

In a quiet pastoral valley framed by rugged hills sits Da Giorgio Ristorante Italiano. After three years in business at the Highway 395 location, Chef Jorge Alcaraz, the restaurant’s owner, is looking to expand to a downtown Fallbrook location.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I dined during the luncheon period, which is between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The menu was as full as a dinner menu and the prices were reasonable. There is even a kid’s menu available that includes an entrée and drink. If you dine at Da Giorgio’s for lunch you will be served dinner-sized meals for luncheon-sized prices.

The food, however, is light, with large portions of vegetables on the side. Wine and olive oil are two of the main ingredients Chef Jorge uses in his cooking. He doesn’t use many of the traditional Italian sauces, which are too heavy for his tastes.

He directs his chefs to adhere to the same high standards as he does when he prepares food. “I tell them, ‘If you send a dish out to the dining room, it needs to be something that you would eat; if it’s not right, redo it.’”

For a luncheon entrée I chose the Scampi Del Giardino, which is a fresh dish with pan-seared shrimp prepared with broccoli, onions, tomatoes and bell peppers in a white wine sauce.

You don’t have to dig for shrimp in this dish; you will find more shrimp than vegetables! The shrimp were delicately seasoned and the carrots, broccoli and zucchini served on the side were done to perfection, neither too limp nor too raw.

The breadsticks served with the entrees are fresh and wonderful. Eat them with a swirl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and they are even better.

Chef Jorge prepares some dreamy deserts, including the light and flavorful Tiramisù, which can be eaten with creamy Neapolitan ice cream wedges of spumoni, chocolate and vanilla and strawberry. The Tiramisù is made with ladyfingers soaked in coffee, then layered with custard and sprinkled with chocolate.

The interior of the restaurant is airy with vibrant wall murals of Italian scenes: vineyards, country cottages and boats in a Venice harbor. However, if you sit at one of the tables at the wall of windows you will find another kind of relaxing view: the hills on the east are green with vegetation and accented with white rounded boulders.

Chef Jorge came to Fallbrook as a 15-year-old and graduated from Fallbrook High in 1992. He worked for many years as a chef in various restaurants with international flavor until he opened his own restaurant. “I work every day, but I am doing something I like,” he said.

Committed to providing his patrons the best experience, Jorge controls all food quality and makes sure that “everything is ready to go in the morning.”

Hard work is what makes him successful. “I will do anything,” he said. “I will cook, wait tables and wash dishes.”

But Jorge doesn’t have to do it all, because he has a first-rate team behind him. “To be successful you need to be hands-on, but you also need a strong team,” he noted.

His wife will wait tables and his two brothers are chefs – one is sous chef and one is the prep chef. The pizza chef is his cousin.

“I can trust my team,” he said with a smile.

So, sit back and let Chef Jorge’s team serve you a delicious meal in the shadow of the rugged hills or canal-side in ‘Venice.’

Da Giorgio

3135 Old Highway 395

(At the Comfort Inn La Estancia)

(760) 723-1080