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| - This is the perfect example of a local restaurant. They don't advertise much. They don't take credit cards, or checks - cash on the barrelhead only. And they're still packed to the gills with locals any night you choose to name, because the food here is good, solid fare - top-notch without being flashy.
The Italian food here is excellent, and the service is upscale without turning snobbish. The highlights of the food we've had have been:
* An excellent pasta carbonara, lightly cheesy and bacony without turning into the usual gummy, gut-pasting-together mess that most carbonara becomes;
* A basil-and-tomato sauce pasta dish that featured delicious chunks of fresh mozarrella; the pasta itself wasn't the freshest I've ever had (it wasn't a dry Barilla brand from the supermarket, either), but the sauce was tangy and tasted of fresh tomatoes without being nothing more than chunks of tomatoes in a sauce.
But the real charm here? The desserts. You wouldn't think it from an Italian restaurant, but you can bring the family here just for desserts and be entirely happy.
They have - no kidding - THE best tiramisu I've ever had, where the ladyfingers had a sugary, crisp edge to them (yet were still moist) while the rum-and-cocoa filling made my tastebuds jangle.
Get a rum cake? The bottom is soaked in rum, without being overwhelming, a dense chocolately cake that's moist without being gummy. And by God, if you get a lemon ice, it comes in a lemon, with little chunks of zesty lemon buried in the ice - so tart it makes your whole mouth ring with delight.
Basically, this is the kind of place you discover, then bring your friends to because you feel like it's your place. But really, when you look around the wealth of people clogging the tables on a Tuesday night, you realize... it's everyone's place.
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