I finally did it! I finally went to La Cucina! After reading Grant Shindo's review of the place, I knew I had to go one day, and what better time to go than my birthday! Ahhh, yes I am now two decades old...time sure flies when you are in school.
Anyway, my family, Gavin, and I had a reservation on a Monday night at 5:30pm. Of course we pre-ordered the famous osso buco dish upon making a reservation here, as fellow Yelpers had recommended. Also, as a word of caution, be prepared to be at this restaurant for at least an hour and a half. There is one waitress/hostess, and one chef. However, this is my ideal dining situation because I feel like a good dining experience consists of great conversation and tasty dishes. No one should be in a rush. That being said, our entire experience took about 1 and a half hours.
Upon being seated, our herb/olive oil/balsamic vinegar dip was already waiting on the table with filled water glasses. Our waitress brought us our complimentary, fresh-baked bread. It was the absolute BEST complimentary bread I have eaten before, but it was warm, crispy, and fluffy. I had to have some serious willpower to not eat more than I should because I knew my osso buco would be coming soon enough.
My family and I decided to try the Crostini al Porcini and the Caprese for appetizers.
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| Crostini al Poricini [$8.00] |
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| Caprese [$8.00] |
The crostini was definitely the popular appetizer of the night, I am pretty sure every table ordered it! Just as expected it was amazing, the mushrooms were so succulent and complimented the crostini nicely. The caprese was also very good, but I probably wouldn't get it again.
For the main meals we got the osso buco (veal shank), ravioli aragosta (lobster ravioli with vodka sauce), aio oio (spaghetti with garlic, parsley, olive oil, anchovies, chili flakes, capers), trenette norcina (homemade italian sausage, onions, mushrooms).
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| Osso Buco [$26.00] |
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| Aio Oio [$12.00] |
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| Ravioli Aragosta |
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| Trenette Norcina |
I cannot remember the prices of the ravioli and the trenette norcina, and there isn't an updated menu on the internet, so my apologies! However, I know they were between $15 and $20. The osso buco was as amazing as everyone had said, definitely worth it and would highly recommend it to anyone that can afford it. The aio oio is definitely the thing to get if you are on a budget. It is probably the cheapest main dish on the menu, but it packed with lots of flavor. Simple but delicious. The ravioli sauce was great for dipping the complimentary bread in..mmm... The homemade sausage in the trenette norcina was amazing, and I don't even like sausage! Overall, we got a good variety of dishes. All homemade from scratch.
Because it was my birthday, my mom arranged for them to have a little birthday candle atop their famous creme brulee cheesecake! It was amazing! We also got their tiramisu which was also amazing. I am not necessarily a fan of cheesecake or tiramisu, but both desserts really impressed me and I had to stop myself from eating it all. The torched sugar on top of the cheesecake perfectly replicated the texture of real creme brulee.
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| Creme Brulee Cheesecake [$8.00] |
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| Tiramisu [$8.00] |
I apologize that the pictures DO NOT do this place justice. The dim lighting made for poor pictures, but you can get the idea of my experience. If you can afford this place, I highly recommend it. Prices are kind of high, but it is definitely fair. I loved it, my family loved it, and we will definitely be coming back. Thank you so much to La Cucina for making my birthday memorable for all of us.
