By Malena Gordon | Special to the NB Indy
Few restaurants on the West Coast have reminded me of my family’s cooking quite like Il Barone. As someone who grew up outside of Boston, surrounded by homemade Italian cooking, I was looking forward to how Il Barone’s traditional Sicilian approach would compare.
Chef Franco Barone and his wife, Donatella, have built Il Barone around authentic Northern Italian cooking, bringing the techniques Franco learned in Milan to Newport Beach.
Now in its second year on West Coast Highway (after three other Newport Beach locations), Il Barone refined its menu last year to better serve neighborhood families while continuing to cater to longtime business clientele.
Guests can enjoy a balance of handmade pastas, pizzas, and fresh seafood alongside signature specialties, creating the best of both worlds for families and business professionals alike.
For a relaxing Friday brunch, fellow food writer Christopher Trela and I visited the longtime local favorite, excited to experience a cuisine so familiar to me.
Chef Franco’s story began in Sicily, where he grew up before moving to Milan at just 14 years old. There, he learned the foundations of traditional Italian cooking, from baking
bread and making fresh pasta to preparing classic sauces. After opening the acclaimed La Scala in San Diego and later working alongside fellow Sicilian restaurateurs, Franco has remained committed to the methods he learned as a young apprentice.
“We’re going back to basics,” Donatella said. “He won’t change his ways, won’t take shortcuts. If you can’t do it the right way, don’t do it.”
Nearly everything at Il Barone is made in-house. Guests can even get a taste of Chef Franco’s prized 100-year-old sourdough starter passed from his grandmother to his mother before eventually reaching him.
“It’s like his baby,” Donatella laughed. “If he’s away, he’ll say, ‘I hope they fed the starter.’ He worries about it constantly.”
To begin our meal, Donatella recommended a true Il Barone specialty that is everything I could ask for to start our visit: the Facci ri Veccia, a pizza-like dish with imported crescenza cheese, finished with delicate Parma prosciutto, and topped with fragrant truffle oil. The dish immediately showed the restaurant’s quality ingredients and approach.
For entrées, the squid-ink pasta immediately caught my eye, while Chris indulged in the ragu di cinghiale, a hearty wild boar ragù that reflected Northern Italy’s rustic traditions. Donatella also pointed to the Sicilian Meatloaf burger, which I also got, along with the restaurant’s famous pork chop.
“The pork chop is a beast,” she said. “People come from all over. We always run out.”
Nearly every plate arrived garnished with a delicate red-and-green leaf crafted from spinach and rice flour, symbolizing the love Chef puts into every dish.
No meal feels complete without dessert. We concluded our Milan-inspired lunch with two classic Italian desserts: a house-made tiramisu and baba al rum, a Neapolitan sponge cake soaked in rum and filled with silky zabaione cream.
My favorite thing about Il Barone is their true commitment to tradition. Don’t expect to order anything with a list of modifications because the answer will most likely be no, and that’s what makes the restaurant so refreshing. In an era of endless customization, Chef Franco remains committed to serving each dish the way it was meant to be enjoyed.
Hospitality also influenced Il Barone’s expanded happy hour which is offered from 5 to 8 p.m. in the bar only after Donatella realized many neighborhood residents couldn’t make traditional early-evening specials.
“People here work, so by the time they got home, happy hour was already over,” Donatella explained.
Il Barone serves lunch Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner Tuesday through Sunday nights. Visit https://www.baroneoc.com for more information and to see the menus.
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