L’Artusi can officially go on our list of favorite restaurants in this town. A few things stand out as qualifications for such an honor – outstanding and consistent food, great service, good music, and some ancillary entertainment since we can’t sit still. Let’s address each individually. L’Artusi is the sister restaurant to Dell’anima, and it’s the larger, louder sister for sure. The cuisine is Italian, and it’s the kind of Italian cooking that’s not afraid to go heavy on big flavors like garlic, lemon, olives, chiles, and fat to win your favor. Not that it’s unrefined – these are some of the most well thought out and beautiful plates we’ve had the pleasure of eating at an indecent pace. The service is fantastic, from the hosts to the bartenders to the guy getting crazy at the cheese counter. Music get’s an A+ with Santogold and Kid Cudi in the mix on current and upbeat playlists. As for entertainment, that comes in the form of excellent people watching. There is always a good mix of dates in various stages of progression, generally hot people, and a celebrity here and there to pretend you don’t notice. Not to mention one night when some dude spent three minutes violently pounding on the bathroom door that he couldn’t push his way out of, despite the massive “pull please” directly in front of his face. Yes, L’Artusi gets a ridiculously high rating, but we stand by it. It hits all the Immaculate Infatuation erogenous zones, and the roasted mushroom dish alone is worth a boatload of points.
Food Rundown:
Beef Carpaccio
Crunchy rye crisps and a horseradish crema add some bells and whistles to the paper thin beef. It’s a nice and easy starter that will leave you with room for late meal gluttony. You’ll need it.
Roasted Mushrooms
Easily one of the best things I have ever had at a restaurant and I will not back down from that statement. This is a plate of roasted mushrooms and pancetta topped with a fried egg and ricotta. The mushrooms are salty, rich, and loaded with lemon. Add a fried egg and ricotta salata and suddenly the fork seems worthless. Next time I come back I am ordering three of these and bringing one of those little shovels that kids make sand castles with.
Orecchiette
L’Artusi is supposedly known for having great pasta dishes, and this orecchiette lived up to the reputation. Lamb sausage and Swiss chard make for a nice change from the traditional sausage and broccoli rabe.
Grilled Octopus
This dish was recommended to us by our server, and we’re glad we went there. Big tasty octopus pieces cooked perfectly with equal sized chunks of potatoes and green olives. Excellent.
Sunchokes
A word of advice: the sides at L’Artusi are very good, and the sunchokes are no exception, but ask that your sides be delivered with the entrees you ordered. If the sides come late in the meal, chances are you’ll be in a blind feeding frenzy on the entrees and won’t notice.
