A can't-miss dish

Way back, when tutti-frutti — the ice cream — was the fad, I stuck by chocolate and vanilla.
And when tutti-frutti — the dance — became a craze, I sat it out.

But on Jan. 30, when Tutti Frutti — the Pasadena restaurant — offers 50 percent off some very unique food items, I’ll jump to join the crowd.

Half-off will make another of my experiences here twice as good because, since its opening in November, Tutti Frutti has become the sun porch of my house of comfort foods.

From a small, specialized menu, it’s won me over with North American favorite preparations, overlaid with Colombian refinements: a fruit salad enriched with mozzarella, a hot dog with tidbits of pineapple, and a waffle puffed with French vanilla yogurt.

As it’s a cozy place with limited seating, many choose to pick items up to take back to the office, no doubt to the envy of co-workers, or home for late-night noshing. (The restaurant stays open until 10 p.m. daily.

Half-priced at $2.97, the fruit salad provides a even dozen varities: Eve’s forbidden apple, cantaloupe, orange, grapes, mango, kiwi, pineapple, banana, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Berry-rich, there’s no other salad in town with more soluble fiber.

Crackling with granola, topped with mozzarella crumblings and a lofty swirl of French vanilla yogurt, the colorful salad resembles a candied Matterhorn. Skeptical about the validity of mozzarella cheese in a fruit salad? Don’t be. Mozzarella — milky, moist and sweet but slightly acidulated — is no more outside the realm of salad than it is of pizza.

“People wonder about mozzarella in fruit salad at first,” said Lorena Sicard, who owns the restaurant with Sergio, her Colombian-born husband. “But once tasted, they won’t have it any other way.” Agreed.

In my first tasting, simple grapes, slicked with mozz and vanilla yogurt, came off as a more savory blend than do choice grapes in a fine wine. So stimulated after eating the salad, I didn’t know what to do next: kiss the chef, run around the block or take a cold shower. After a few deep breaths, I settled for a hot dog.

In normal times, a regular dog — be it German Shepherd, Irish Setter, or any cuddly cur sans pedigree — is man’s best friend. Sometimes, like when they run amok in a dog park knocking over toddlers, they bite the hand that feeds them. But now, in a slumping economy, man’s best friend is the Colombian hot dog at Tutti Frutti — it feeds the hand that bites it, deliciously.
Ensconced in its bun is a plump Hebrew National wiener. Kosher, minus the “ask but don’t tell” ingredients found in most hot dogs, this baby is almost healthful. Sheathed in a thin slice of ham, it is covered in a mesh of cheese, diced pineapple and an audibly crisp crust of Colombian potato chips, plus chopped onions. A lacy filigree of mustard, catsup and a house-made mayo tops it off.

Half-priced at $2.15 on Friday, Jan. 30, the dog is still a bargain at its regular $4.30 price.

Also effective Jan. 30, new dog add-ons include a cole slaw side (classic Colombian tropical, it is hoped) and a bunch of extra toppings. I think that the new toppings (pickle, chicken, bacon and mushroom) are well beyond what’s needed: The basic Tutti Frutti hot dog doesn’t need any help.

Maybe the Tutti Frutti waffle could be improved with typical Colombian caramel drippings: I haven’t had a chance to try it. But with its spire of frozen yogurt, special sweet sauce, Oreo crumbles, and pebbles of peanuts and almonds ($2.25 on special next week), it sounds like a winner. To customize the batter, they offer a choice of three fruits.

Tutti Frutti’s “big three” items are complemented by an array of smoothies, yogurts, sodas and Colombian coffee.

Located downstairs in a food-court building at 950 E. Colorado Blvd., a block east of Lake Avenue, it has as neighbors such popular restaurants as New Delhi Palace and Indochine, and the famous bakery/cafe, Euro Pane. There is street parking (no meters, yet) and validated parking in the building (entrance off Mentor Avenue).

“For our half-price Friday, we expect to see a lot of new faces,” said Sicard. “And once they taste our salads, waffles, and hot dogs, I know they’ll come back for more.”

In these hard times — even with its regular prices — Tutti Frutti is an advanced agent for needed restaurant price reforms, the kind that maximize good eating on a budget. We can hope that this becomes a trend that will reshape the menus of all restaurants in Pasadena.