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| - Sicilian Butcher has only been open a little over a week at the time of this review (December 2017). Given the owner-connection to Hash Kitchen and looking at some photos, I expected an environment very similar to what you'd get at THK - complete with the mandatory DJ. And yes, that is indeed pretty much what you get - not that there's anything wrong with that.
Arriving on Saturday night at 7pm, the place was quite packed - far more crowded than I expected. The setup of the restaurant is very similar to what you'd see over at Mora Italian. Modern, sleek, thumpy, and active. Unfortunately, the place was a bit of a mess when we walked in. Lots of people were clogging the entryway (not their fault) because of multiple families standing around in a disorganized line waiting to put their names in. This created a lot of confusion about where to go and what to do. We were quoted 45 minutes for a table, but it ended up only being ten. We were seated outside, which I would have balked at if they didn't have decent heaters for this particularly cold evening.
My girlfriend and I decided to try some of their bruchetta. At 15 dollars, we were able to sample four different styles. The red peppers, goat cheese, and herb pesto was easily the best of the four, with the wild mushroom and fried leeks also being decent. The dates, ricotta, and bacon variation was fine, while the prosciutto, honey, and hazelnut combo that I automatically assumed would be the best actually ended up being the worst. I'm pretty sure they forgot to include the honey. Strangely enough, just as we were about to finish the board, another identical board was brought out - until the server realized that we had already received it. They then quickly rushed it away, presumably to be wasted. They're new, so these kind of hiccups are to be expected, I guess.
After studying their menu, they seem to be going for the whole step-by-step/choosing process that enables you to build your own pasta and meatballs. You pick the meatballs, you choose the sauce, as well as the pasta. This can be a bit of a lottery of sorts if you don't know exactly what you're doing.
My girlfriend played it safe and ordered the Tomaso's meatballs with marinara sauce and spaghetti alla chitarra. This is probably the safest and most traditional creation one could sample. On the other hand, I opted for Uncle Arthur's meatballs which are a bit pricier due to the inclusion of lamb. I chose the arribiatta sauce, which would be basic if it weren't for the addition of calabrian chili.
My girlfriend said her spaghetti was good. Not great, but good. Quality of the pasta was fine, while the sauce was just standard in comparison to some of our other favorites. My arribiatta sauce was a bit too spicy for me, so I suppose that's my fault for not ordering something more safe. What really helped these dishes, however, were the meatballs. They're generously sized, flavorful, and very light. I guess that's why some people have the option of just ordering a bucket of them if they so choose.
For dessert, we chose the olive oil cake. It was just okay. It has the dryer and dense texture of an angel food cake. We both loved the inclusion of the housemade honeycomb, but for ten dollars, I doubt it's something we'd order again given its size.
For this area, I'm sure this place will do incredibly well in the long run. And I'm guessing that, at some point, my girlfriend and I will return to experiment with some of their sauce-pasta combinations in hopes of getting something that really impresses. Perhaps things will be running a bit more smoothly by that time.
Recommended to check out.
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