I vaguely recall that the impetus for our first visit to Lusardi’s several years ago was to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. Ever since, we’ve subconsciously stigmatized Lusardi’s as a “special occasion” restaurant. This is probably because we had such a nice time on our first visit. I’m also sure that Lusardi’s reputation for serving more refined Italian cuisine has contributed to us bestowing this categorization. Whatever the reason, Lusardi’s never seems to come up when we’re spouting off potential places to go on a random Friday or Saturday night. This changed on a recent Friday afternoon when I impulsively called Lusardi’s to see if we could get reservations for that night. Well, maybe I’m not being completely honest. Maybe we had a reason to celebrate, but regardless, my wife was surprised when she got home from work and learned that we were going to Lusardi’s for dinner.
When I’m hungry, I can do some serious eating and since our trip to Italy a few years ago, I’ve really come to enjoy having an antipasti followed by a pasta and then the entrée. However, not knowing that we were going out for dinner, my wife had a big lunch and didn’t quite share my appetite. We compromised by sharing an appetizer and splitting a pasta.
For the appetizer, we had a carciofini ala brace – sliced, crispy artichokes with a mild spicy tomato sauce. This was a wonderful dish. The thin slices of artichoke heart had a crunchy, fried exterior and were deliciously meaty inside. The tomato sauce that was served over the artichokes had just enough heat to contributed nicely without being too hot. This dish would make a perfect afternoon snack accompanied by a nice glass of wine on a sunny Saturday or Sunday afternoon at one of Lusardi’s sidewalk tables.
For the pasta course we ordered the homemade orecchiette with short ribs and mint. First of all, the homemade pasta was great. It was cooked perfectly and had a great texture. I had expected the sauce to resemble a bolognese or some similar tomato based braised meat dish. Instead, the pasta was adorned with a much lighter sauce that was dotted with little pieces of beef. The mint, a somewhat surprising choice of herb, also added a fresh, light, and flavorful component to this dish.
For our entrée, my wife and I both selected items from the daily specials. I had a veal scaloppine with prosciutto and provolone cheese. Again, the provolone was a somewhat surprising ingredient – many would expect mozzarella for a dish that resembles a sorrentino. However it added a wonderful, aged flavor that would have been missed if any other cheese had been used.
My wife had grouper with mushrooms, spinach and shrimp. The outside of the fish was nicely pan seared that gave it a great crispy, salty texture. Unfortunately, the fish was a little overcooked and when eaten alone it was a little dry. However, the condiment was very tasty, particularly when all of the ingredients were combined and when everything was eaten together, it made up for the dryness of the fish.
Another interesting item to note was the gin and tonic that I ordered. The cocktail had an unexpected frothiness. It also seemed to be lacking a little of the tonic water flavor. I wonder if they poured me a gin fizz or even a silver fizz with egg whites. Whatever it was, it was refreshing…and tasty. It just wasn’t what I was expecting.
We opted to forego dessert, but this was an overall real good meal. It’s a shame that we haven’t gone to Lusardi’s more often over the past few years, but that’s a mistake that we’ll correct moving forward.
