***** (5 stars)

This is about as close as you can get to authentic Italian food in Orlando. The ingredients are fresh, and many of them are imported. In fact, you know you’re in for a treat from the moment they put down the fresh bread, because the olive oil it’s drizzled with is sublime, and the dusting of grated cheese packs a ton of flavor into each bite.

We tried the antipasto plate, which had a wonderful pecorino cheese studded with black pepper–probably the best pecorino I’ve had. I’m not much of a meat person, but my wife liked all of the meats on the plate.

We also had the mussels, which were served in a tomato sauce that had very fresh tomato pieces. I’m betting these came from Italy, as they weren’t the American kind that you can bounce into a semi truck.

The pictures on the website show lots of fish and shellfish dishes, but the only fish dish I could find was the special, a snapper cooked in parchment, served with shellfish. The snapper was (mostly) de-boned at tableside. It was moist, but a bit of a pain to eat, and the shellfish wasn’t as good as the mussel appetizer.

Perperoncino is tiny, bright and noisy, not my first choice of ambiance, but on nice evenings the restaurant doubles its size by expanding onto the plaza it fronts. That’s the ticket for a truly authentic Italian meal.

Peperoncino
7988 Via Dellagio Way
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 440-2856
http://www.yelp.com/biz/peperoncino-orlando