Bar Toma: Italian fare inspires dreams of summertime dining

Tony Mantuano is on a roll. A local politician who flies on Air Force One these days calls him "my favorite chef." He's in the running — again — for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Chef award. His executive chef at Spiaggia, Sarah Grueneberg, came thisclose to winning Top Chef a week ago. His star power is such that last year Levy Restaurants happily blew up their venerable Bistro 110 (which probably needed overhauling) to let Mantuano create Bar Toma (as in TOny MAntuano), a casual-yet-urbane food and wine bar that seems to be a physical incarnation of "Wine Bar Food," the appetizer and wine book Mantuano wrote with his wife, Cathy.

Phil Vettel

March 8, 2012