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| - I've been to the big heavyweight joints of Little Italy before. This is one of the middleweights in size, but it's pure Rocky for championship cuisine and heart. The dining room is very old school charming, that famiglia business personal love over a generation oozing from every element. As we were looking at the menu the owner, topped with his pork pie hat, drifts up with a steel mixing bowl with a bit of farfalle caccio e pepe, a simple salt and pepper and cheese pasta, that's "a little extra." Leave "amuse bouche" to the French and the faux.
Our Caesar salad with pink peppercorns was amazing. Loved the accent those brought out of a shopworn standard without the easy fat and distractions of a bacon.
When in a traditional joint, embrace the traditions. The ravioli was the best I've ever had, perfectly cooked and such a nice creamy indulgence in perfect marinara.
The gnocchi were also house made beauty, and I loved that their meat sauce was more big crumbled and chunks of plum tomatoes so you got some textural relief from a dish that can be heavy and repetitive for mouth feel.
The service was excellent, charming, and my waitress even ran my jacket across the street and found me in Presti's Bakery to get it back to me! Where does THAT ever happen in SoFLA, my culinary center?
This place has great food and BIG HEART. A true champion, worth destination status when in C-town.
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