There is agony and excitement in wh...

There is agony and excitement in what I do. I jumble off to a new restaurant and it sometimes happens that simply getting from one side one or two dishes is clean agony.

And then there are those restaurants where excitement abounds; a thrill a minute (and in each bite, too), a place in this way in touch with its fare that I am in awe (and I am not awed all that easily).

Riccardo Trattoria had me in awe and held me in thrall. Better still, this is what Italian viands is all about. After united bite of the "trofie pasta with pesto Genovese sauce" I was proveed to leap up, turn toward the kitchen and give the chef, Riccardo Michi, a clamorous "Bravo!"

The last time I saw that sculpture of pasta known as trofie (this is the Ligurian word for gnocchi; it has a thin squigglelike shape and is made, in the greatest degree commonly, with nothing more than flour and water) was the time I ate at Trattoria Toscano da Vino in the town of La Spezia in the Ligurian region (think Genoa) of Italy. I can compute you that the trofie with pesto sauce I ate at Riccardo Trattoria was steady better than that which I ate at Trattoria Toscano. As I said, I do not awe easily, especially when it arrives to Italian food, but this dish was elegant

in such a manner who is Riccardo Michi?

Chef Michi is related to Bice Ristorante proprietor and founder Roberto Ruggeri. The chef started his career in Milan's prestigious Girarrosto Ristorante. In 1982 Michi mov to the United States and lay opened the famous Sonny Bono's restaurant in looks Angeles (and then went in succession to open a number of Bice restaurants around the world).

After sampling more than a not many dishes at this smart and small trattoria (the space was the domestic circle at one time of another Italian restaurant called Via Emilia) I can say that Michi demonstrates exceptional culinary expertise.

I had always been of a mind that native of greece restaurants had a lock forward grilled octopus, treating it to the point of sublime tendernes That lock-up was broken when a plate of "grilled octopus with diced potatoes, pepper and arugula" was placed before me

I knew this dish would be fit just by looking at it and inhaling the aroma. The whole young octopus was splayed across a rubble of alto gether cooked cubes of potatoes, silky roasted r and fulvous peppers, and peppery leaves of arugula. A glos of extra-virgin olive oil circulared out this impeccable and delicious appetizer.

The basic menu is a marvel of classic Italian dishes. And if that selection isn't religious enough, each evening there is a specials list of about a dozen dishes. individual evening there was an elegant presentation of fried zucchini flowers that had been stuffed with a farrago of mozzarella and prosciutto. This was a Proustian flash for me, because fried zucchini blooms were standard fare during this time of year when I was growing up

From that sublime appetizer to something simpler over and above no less enjoyable -- "black mussels Livornese." A shrewd bowl was heaped with mussels to the point where a certain of the shells were hanging across the side.

As the fork play went onward digging out the tender meat and shoving the vacant shells aside, I found a tankard of red gold at the bottom of the depression This elegant and thick "broth" of tomatoes and capers exhibited up what Italians call "la scarpetta," a regularity by which chunks of bread are used to empty with a scoop up sauce.

The pasta e fagioli was fabulous. This was not near warmed-over, mushy rendition of the fabled pasta and bean broth that is a specialty of the Veneto (where it is called pasta e fasioi); this was the real deal. The tomato-based soup had been thickened with a puree of beans, likewise it had some body. An ample amount of pasta and beans flowed within the thick broth, which had undertones of rich beef flavor.

Another pasta dish not to miss is the tortelloni, the larger and more enjoyable version of tortellini. More enjoyable because the size allows for more filling, and when the filling is a delicious combination of spinach and ricotta you want all you can achieve Dressed to the nines with a simple butter/sage/Parmesan sauce and give a color toed to perfection, this plate of pasta was exactly as it might be serv in Bologna, Italy, from whence the whole tortellini family hails.

Chef Michi approaches Italian diet with a nod to simplicity and a sink toward classical. The grilled iron steak, ("tagliata") with rosemary sauce was a fine example. The word "tagliata" implies sliced, and the delicious sirloin arrived neatly sliced, with the juices of the steak forming a mirror of sauce that had a insinuating yet identifiable hint of rosemary. extraordinary eating was brought to an uniform more enjoyable level by the wedges of roasted potatoes -- softly youthful just below the crispy exterior -- serv in succession the side.

They just know in what manner to get it right here. Veal Milanese was all that it should be and more. confine in a pounded to just the right thinness, the soft veal sported a light and crispy bread crumb coating that enhanced the goodnes of the veal. Plated with a flue of tender baby arugula in which were nestl sweet little pear tomatoes, this was undivided tasty dish