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| - GOOD LORD I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! The food is awesome and no I don't work there, nor am I affiliated with them in any way except that I did have the fortune of dining here recently and it was really, REALLY good.
First off, I kind of like that the location isn't among the hustle and bustle of other downtown areas, such that parking was NOT at all a problem. Secondly, the interior: nothing pretentious there--it's simple in its own way but very lovely nonetheless. The crowd that night was an assortment: professional, young-ish ilk, some families with older children (my guess; I always like to construct my own characters).
The service is GREAT from the moment you walk in--which, if you don't get there at opening (6pm) or soon thereafter, I'd suggest you make a reservation. I think they have two seating times. The host greeted then seated us--standard. The waitress however, was something else. She brought us our drinks along with glasses of water and a pitcher, but kept coming back to fill our glasses with water when we were low! I thought that was totally over-the-top but in a good way. Personally though, I feel bad that someone should go out of their way to do this when the pitcher is available for us to pour ourselves. FAB service. Now the food...
Their menu does vary on certain items depending on the night that you go (maybe also to do with what is available at the market that day?) but certain things (ie, burrata, warm olives, spaghetti, chorizo) seem to be staples, and rightfully so~
We were a party of two and started with the burrata and bone marrow. Judging from some of the pics that fellow YELPers have posted of their dishes, it seems even the presentation of their food varies from night to night. For example, the burrata we got was this jumbo lump on top of really thin (think Melba Toast-thin) toasted slivers of bread. The whole thing was drizzled in super-yum olive oil and I'm guessing a sprinkle of salt because after a while I did detect that feeling I get when I eat something on the salty side. EVERYONE was ordering the burrata, and it's no real mystery why. We also got to enjoy the bone marrow which also came with some crispbread-like crunchiness. The bone was oozing with a generous amount of marrow and had such a distinct, pure beefy flavour to it that I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven! (If you've ever had homemade kom-tang with just the right amount of seasoning, you'll know what I'm talking about and if you even know what kom-tang is, chances are you have had the homemade stuff and know damn well what what I'm talking about!) There was so little bread to work with that we didn't mind slathering on the marrow. There was even a decent amount of meat on the bone that stewed so long that it practically fell off with a slight tap and landed in our mouths.
I walked in there starving as I was looking so forward to this meal and to be quite honest, the starters alone would have tied me over for some time. But alas, who stops there?? We then got our mains: the spaghetti, which were so fresh and perfectly cooked--the pasta itself was not the round kind you buy dry in the supermarket but square and had the perfect texture. The sauce was deelish but the dish was not presented with all the fanfare as it appears in some of the pics that have been posted, but it's all good. At $18, it was probably the least expensive main. We also got the sweet pea agnolotti with chunks of lobster strewn about. When I saw it was a handful of pieces of pasta, I wanted to cry because I knew it would be good, but it was surprisingly filling (though we did share everything so I'm sure the spaghetti and salty-ish burrata helped)!!!
We could have done without dessert but shared a budino (Italian pudding) anyway and certainly without regret! The smooth texture of the pudding had just the right amount of flavour and sweetness, and also contained big pieces of salty sponge toffee that went so well with the rest of the dessert! If this is on the menu when you go, TRY IT!
I walked out of there very happy that night, and their service is definitely something that will set them apart from some of the nonsense you see at some of these new restaurants. The rustic, Italian-inspired dishes we had were ALL very good and highly recommended. Everything was super-fresh and tasty! Don't be fooled by the not-huge portions and give a few different things a try--you will not be disappointed. There was nothing about this place that was a let-down, and I sincerely hope that their success continues. As we were leaving at about 8:30pm, there were hordes of people lined up by the entrance, salivating and waiting for their turn to grab a table. The next time I go, I am definitely going to be one of them!
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