food drink

Eat Beat Review: Sogno Toscano

by Phoenix Magazine

A new Arcadia market-restaurant hybrid leans on sourcing and vibes to cast a lingering Italian spell. by Chris Malloy | Photography by Angelina Aragon Few italian restaurants in the Valley nail the vibe of eating in Italy. However, in the same plaza as Arcadia Meat Market, the breezy all-day eatery Sogno Toscano manage

A new Arcadia market-restaurant hybrid leans on sourcing and vibes to cast a lingering Italian spell.

by Chris Malloy | Photography by Angelina Aragon

Few italian restaurants in the Valley nail the vibe of eating in Italy. However, in the same plaza as Arcadia Meat Market, the breezy all-day eatery Sogno Toscano manages this charming feat right on down to the abbiocco, the heady drowsiness after a meal.

Sogno Toscano translates as “Tuscan dream.” Born in that Italian region, Pietro Brembilla and Brian Persico embarked on their own culinary dream when they started peddling Brembilla’s family estate olive oil to Manhattan restaurants. In 2008, after opening Sogno Toscano as an importer of Italian goods in Tempe, they expanded into cafes. The Arcadia location, Sogno’s fifth eatery in the U.S., opened in late 2025.

The space has high ceilings, sage-green walls and ample sunlight. Elusive products like Sardinian pane carasau and quality limonata, lemon soda, fill shelves. Brunch, lunch and dinner are served daily and the place pulls a solid espresso. A shakerato – shaken with sugar and ice, giving it a frothy top – adds honey, lemon and carbonated water to the usual formula, returning sips light and summery.

Many people pull up for lunch. The move? An excellent sandwich built on schiacciata, a Tuscan bread similar to focaccia. The Delicata pairs the fragrant bread with milky stracchino cheese, cooked prosciutto and rich confit tomatoes that hit like jam in some bites and burst in others. Fennel salad also shows restraint, its mild zing intact with citrus, mint and a bracing shallot-spiked dressing.

The menu is not strictly Tuscan, but more pan-Italian. Servers steer diners toward pasta, made with fresh egg noodles from Salerno. The carbonara features tonnarelli – chunky, long, squarish noodles, cooked so they have a giant chew. The dish could go bigger with the guanciale and doesn’t quite have the insane egg-creaminess of the best versions. Still, it’s nice, if not elite. Though they occupy a sliver of the menu, entrées are worth an order. Filet mignon comes out on-target medium-rare and delightfully tender. The “chimichurri” is a salsa verde packed with mellow basil notes and the buttery richness of good olive oil.

So the dream has a few blips. But if you love the spirit of Italian dining, Sogno Toscano deserves a spot in your rotation.