service needs to work on clearing plates. At one point I was sitting with an empty plate for so long that the very friendly pastry chef noticed and came off the line to clear my plate. The same pastry chef also noticed nobody was taking my dessert order and came out of the kitchen again to take my order.
There was a 20% “administrative fee”, whatever the fuck that is, on my bill, with no mention of it at all on the menu or by the server. Not only that, there’s a line for a tip and a helpful “suggested tips” section for 15, 18 and 20 percent tips.
portions of the antipasti and steak were pretty small for the price
pastas and steak were just okay
antipasti - salumi, cheese, bread, preserves from the sea
Fine
bucatini - “al limone” cetara anchovy, colatura
I was looking forward to this pasta the most since they didn’t have the shrimp noodles. I know this is “al limone”, but this tasted overwhelmingly of lemons, no balance at all. Where are the damn anchovies? The colatura wasn’t even noticeable either.
antico steak - salsa verde
I was watching the kitchen make this and thought they were squeezing quite a bit of lemon on it. And yep, when I tasted it, it was pretty much all lemon. Not much salsa verde at all. $44 for four slices of chewy steak and some tiny sides.
How much are pasta dishes in Boston? I was lucky to get a reservation for Lilia in July. Every pasta dish is between $20-$25. Thought NYC would be more expensive.
It’s pasta, veggies and meat. Chi Spacca did have some creative dishes like the bone marrow pie but for the most part they just executed their dishes extremely well and cooked meat perfectly.
I’ve been watching them slowly build this out (I live close by) and was wondering when they were going to finally be finished. Too bad they’re only going to be open weeknights to start.
I think this will be a nice addition to the neighborhood, although the opening menu may not be destination worthy. They’ll probably be pulling in folks from the Larchmont/Hancock Park area who don’t mind paying that price for pasta (although Osteria Mamma & La Buca aren’t that far away—or even Mozzaplex). I’m actually looking forward to the wood fired chicken (or wood fired anything) and wine.
I wouldn’t consider this as the stereotypical “cal-ital”. Also considering that Chi Spacca was better when Colby was at the helm, I will definitely be expecting it to be better than the typical cal-ital restaurant.
The wine program sounds exciting and different than what other restaurants are doing. Per the L.A. Times, “through deals struck with wine collectors and small distributors, Caravelli has put together a vintage Italian wine list that includes 60 or so bottles dating back to the 1960s. Most will be priced under $70.”
I’m usually a BYOB type, but with vintage bottles under $70, I would love to try some off Antico’s list.
