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| - I must start this review by noting that it is ever so slightly bizarre that they keep their door locked even a few minutes after opening hour. We had a reservation for a little bit after their opening hour, but we had to knock and wait a minute before we were actually allowed in. Not a huge turnoff, but it made for an awkward start as we stood there for a while wondering if we had the wrong location.
Nostrano has a really nice, earthy/all-natural kind of ambience that isn't repeatedly shoved in your face like in some other places (OK, we GET it, it's "farm-to-fork", like basically any other respectable expensive restaurant). It felt comfortable and classy, but not overwhelming.
Our server was everything you'd want in an upscale restaurant (except for servers who might bring extra free food!)--attentive but not too overbearing, extremely kind, knowledgeable, and overall pleasant to be around.
We started off the meal with a salami appetizer that was sort of just an explosive amalgam of very different flavors. I can't remember for the life of me which ones were which, but some of the salami was pretty classic (still better than high-quality store-bought stuff), and some of the salami had no resemblance to anything I had tasted before in my life. Some of the pickled vegetables on the plate were odd, but some were quite good. Was it an interesting experience for my palette? Yes. Would I get it again? For $21? Absolutely not.
For the main course, I got their sausage-stuffed roasted quail with broccolini while my girlfriend opted for the goat cheese risotto. She loved her risotto with the small critique that she wished it had a bit more goat cheese. Personally, this being my risotto devirginization (how can I be a foodie without having ever eaten risotto??), I found it perfectly creamy and richly flavored.
The quail was decent, but I don't think I would get it again. For one, it was $26 for a very small quail. In comparison to the game hen at 43 North, this was smaller, not as tasty, and more expensive. Additionally, the sausage stuffing was good/okay, but detracted a bit texturally from the quail. I'm not sure I particularly enjoyed having in one bite both the stringy, delicate quail and the meaty, ground pork consistency sausage--there have got to be better flavor combinations out there. Finally, for me the main redeeming factor for poultry is the crispy, fatty skin, which this quail unfortunately lacked. So it was still good, just not a stellar dish that I would pay $26 at an upscale restaurant for.
I must say that the dessert was incredible, especially the affogato dessert. It was pretty simple-looking (basically donuts dipped in expresso and some caramel gelato), but somehow everything comes together in a gooey foodgasm of cold, warm, creamy, and soft textures. I am honestly not a dessert person at all, but I feel like I absolutely HAVE to try this at home.
Overall, I think the experience was a bit overpriced for what it was, but still quite tasty. I would've given 3.5 stars if given the ability to, but I rounded up to 4. The dessert, service, risotto, and ambience were all very nice. I would definitely come again if given the opportunity to splurge and try something else, like the pasta.
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