| rev:text
| - We visited Cuoco Pazzo last Friday evening with a few friends, and were blown away. What a hidden gem (hopefully not for long) in Old Town!
We arrived around 7 PM for dinner, and the restaurant was surprisingly not crowded, except for the bar. It was a comfortable atmosphere--really open with a dark, homey feel. In other words, it didn't feel stuffy, or overly conceptualized.
Our first course was the East Coast Mussels. The mussels were big and plump and the sauce was to die for! It was the perfect white wine butter sauce. We asked for more bread so we could lap up every bit.
For our main meals, we tried an array of entrees. I went with one of the specials--cavatelli pasta (almost like a gnocci, but lighter and with grooves) with a pork ragu sauce, finished with fresh ricotta and pistachios. I was trying to stay away from a heavy pasta dish, and felt this definitely fit the bill. The ricotta felt like the only decadent aspect, and there was a perfect serving of it. My husband decided on the Carne Pizzetta. It was approximately twelve inches, and was light and fluffy, with a lot of flavor.
Our friends ordered vastly different than we did, which was great because we got to try everything. They, too, ordered specials of the evening, as well as an item of the regular menu. From the specials menu, our friend, Kevin, ordered the duck ravioli, with crispy duck skin (YUM!), and the foie gras tartine with cherries and chocolate. Both were flavor explosions in your mouth! Our other friend, Krystle, on the other hand, went for the Ribeye Bistecca. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare and was a hearty portion (I believe 14 oz.).
Since we were in a rush to make a show, and bursting out of our jeans, we decided to skip dessert, but would have loved to have stayed for it.
One thing we didn't get to try, but looked out of this world was the charcuterie and cheese plate. Apparently, it changes regularly and top quality cured meats and cheeses are selected by Chef Peter DeRuvo. Speaking of Chef DeRuvo, he stopped by our table to ask how our meal was--really nice!
Overall, I think Cuoco Pazzo is a great new addition to the Scottsdale dining scene. Portions were large, prices were reasonable, and there was not one bad thing I had to say about the meal. However, I will warn that this is not a restaurant for people who want to get in and out in an hour. They want you to stay and savor, which you should at a restaurant like this.
We will DEFINITELY be back!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)