Artusi

30-September, Monday
I flew in the same morning from San Francisco, and was only staying for a night. So our party of three chose this place for the location as well as for Nosh as we wanted to try a little bit of everything. And from what I've heard this place can become unpredictably packed at times so we were luckily able to be seated without neither a reservation nor actual wait.

Roasted Baby Beets With Salsa Tonnada:
This dish offered a wide breadth of fresh flavors for me, as I am not an avid fan of beets but the salsa tonnata compliments the earthiness of the roasted beets to a tantalizing-aphrodisiac splendor. It was served to us around room temperature, and while I detected the taste of anchovies in the paste it did not overwhelm my taste buds as I was expecting it to, but rather all ingredients (garlic cloves, Cetriolini Sott'aceti, Parsley, Tonno/Tuna, Dry White Wine, Capers, Lemon Juice, Mayonnaise, Turkey Breast) were deliciously melded together to create a new flavor profile that I have not tasted before.  I've seen this offered as a sauce for pasta dishes at other restaurants I've been to but have always steered clear of it out of intimidation, now I realize what I've been missing out on all this time. I want to attempt to make this so I can dip my Ambrosia petals for an unworldly snack.

Roasted and Raw Carrot Salade:
I was definitely appreciative of the textural variety of this dish: the roasted half were slightly sweet and nutty with a flavor complexity that is really enhanced by the roasting, while the raw carrots had a nice crunch/ bite to them and tasted fresh out of the garden. The carrots were then tossed in Crushed Pistachio that was adjacent in earthy flavor, while complemented by the tartness of the Currant, and drizzled with Colaturra di Alici (Anchovy sauce).

Chicory Salade:
I am a huge fan of the bitterness/ spiciness of Chicory, as I eat a blend of Red Endive, Radicchio along with other herbal greens on nearly a daily basis for a light home-packed work lunch for Spring, or as an appetizer course with dinner. Served with Corn, Marinated Tuna and Anchovy Vinaigrette

Salumi Della Sera:
Sliced ultra-thin, slick mouth-feel, this was smoky and aromatic in flavor..

Tagliatelle Alla Grecia:
Is one of my favorite intrinsically Italian dishes, it is a perfect delivery of freshly hand-cut ribbon Tagliatelle which is the only vehicle to evenly disperse enough of the luscious cured pork and cheese with each fork-full. The Guanciale is essential as to inject its unique, intensely piggy flavor profile into the dish, which is paired with the tanginess of the grated Percorino Romano, and topped with freshly ground spicy black pepper. There are only a handful of ingredients in the execution dish, but the simplicity really allows each distinct flavor profile to brilliantly resonate individually in your mouth upon entry, only to be richly enhanced as your jaw begins to chew.

Tonnarelli:
Again- freshly hand-cut mid-weight square pasta, in which the denier is a bit loftier in size due to the heavier ingredients. The eggplant Ragu is roasted /cooked down enough to remove any of the bitter taste, complemented with the tartness of fresh cherry tomatoes, and topped with fresh peppery basil.

Punctured Bicycle
I enjoyed 3x of these throughout the meal, then later switched to a full-bodied red when the anti-pastas came out.  I love Campari-forward drinks, but this is an inventive mix when paired with the lightly herbal/ bittersweet notes of the Cynar, and the sweet/ effervescence of the dry fruitiness Prosecco.

Our meal lasted the duration of a slow yet savory 3 or-so-hours (but I wasn't counting), I absolutely savored each dish albeit the repetition of a few basic ingredients.

I would fly in again for the day just to return to Artusi/ or Spinasse directly next-door.

This is a great bar for craft cocktails late at night.  The bartender, Shattuck, was super chill and the four of us enjoyed great conversation with him.  He made me "Rosemary's Baby" and my friend a "Back to the Fuscia," both thirst quenching, non alcoholic drinks.

I'm from San Jose, California and you don't get the friendly, easy going service that I got on Sunday night 9/15/13.

This is a tiny menu.  they had a few appetizers and three entrees.  We ordered 2 of the entrees and the server came back to tell us that they were out of that.  So that left two entrees to choose from.  What made it worse is that this happened at 7PM.  We should have left, but really liked the ambiance so we stayed.  The rest of the food was marginal.  The endive salad was a total joke for the money, it was basically some leaves arranged very strangely on a plate.  We ended up spending almost $100 and left unsatisfied and hungry so we went to another restaurant in the neighborhood that we know and trust.  

Artusi was not busy on a Friday night at all, that should have been one indicator that other people knew better than us.  

I would not recommend anything about this restaurant and will never go there again.