Posts Tagged ‘pasta’

Quick Look

I need to visit Osteria Bibiana a few more times before I give you my full-on review, but I can say this: The Bucatini pasta dish (with guanciale, red onion, red chili, and pecorino) was delicious. It actually made an appearance in my dream last night, along with a $107 steamed lobster, but that’s another story…

Italian Value

Where I grew up, Italian food meant cheap eats. You could feed the whole family for $20 at Ligori’s or Tony’s. School fundraisers were almost always “Italian Dinners,” where you’d make a killing charging $5 for a plate of spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. Expensive Italian fare arrived via the Olive Garden. Eight bucks for unlimited salad, breadsticks, and pasta!?! What a rip off!!! Reason for referencing culinary Ogden: It’s a whole different story here in DC, where cheap Italian means tiny $13 pizzas at Two Amy’s. You want a pasta dinner? You save that for your anniversary.

First off, there’s nothing dirt cheap about Potenza. BUT its value, in terms of other DC Italian outposts, makes it worth multiple visits per year—not just the token evening out for Patten’s birthday (though it was perfect for that event too—see below). I’m okay spending $8 on the Arancini (fried risotto balls stuffed with boar sausage and provolone), or $14 on Potenza’s margharita pizza—a flatbread-style filling appetizer for four. Both are delicious, and certainly worth their price tag. I was a bit hesitant with the $18 Tortelloni di Coniglio (pictured above), but these rabbit and truffle-stuffed tortellonis comprise one of the best pasta dishes in the city.  The $19 pork milanese (pictured left) seems steep, but keep in mind that it technically feeds two. (You’ll make yourself sick if you eat the whole plate yourself). You can’t go wrong with any of their $7 desserts, though the real gem here is the chocolate hazelnut semi freddo: a half-sphered mound of rich creaminess that explodes in your mouth. Sexy is the adjective that comes to mind. Patten argues that the tiramisu is their best dessert, so go ahead and order both, like we do. On our last visit, we spent $150 for four guests, a few drinks and desserts included. Added benefit: beautiful restaurant design. Again, not the Ligori’s prices (or florescent lights) of yore, but a few ten levels above in quality.  And…my current fave Italian spot in the city.