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| - What can I say that has not already been said? Osteria Papavero (Pronounced Pah-PAH-vro, or someone will correct you embarrassingly when your Spanish kicks in and you call it 'Pa-pa-VEH-ro') This place is consistently wonderful. Classy, quaint and sweet, but not overdressed and stuffy in atmosphere.
Generally it is not too overcrowded. Though their space is small, it is cozy rather than cramped. On occasion they do become overwhelmed during peak hours, like everywhere else downtown. I believe they do not accept reservations, though once they did apparently set up a table for our larger group when we called ahead to make sure we were not being jerks by walking in with 12 people. If we had come later in the evening, yes, we would have been jerks to do that.
Service is attentive, though I often feel bad for the servers who have written down about 20 things that they have to tell you about for specials, in great detail. I love hearing the specials, but then I cringe when someone at the end of the table asks them to "repeat that, I didn't catch what you said about the duck" after a 12 minute long specials list. But what this means is that their menu is specials-heavy, focusing on what is fresh, seasonal and exceptional at the moment.
Food is well presented, the charcuterie boards varied and delights to behold. You could easily make a meal of shared appetizers. Of course their entrees are delicious as well. My favorite was the black truffle and sausage pasta, but everything I've sampled was superb. Except the okra. There's nothing that you can do to okra to make it good. Except throw it in the garbage. Or don't pick it in the first place. Let the okra live!
But I digress.
Get that butterscotch pudding. I, too, was skeptical of how good something like butterscotch pudding can be. It's insane. Get one, eat it, and order another to go. They have good to-go packaging for the pudding. Then eat the second one when you get home and put on your sweatpants. That's how pudding should be eaten, after all.
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