If Italian food is your go-to comfort food (it's one of ours) and you love the idea of fresh handmade pasta, then you're going to love this little slice of Italian fare that Spettacolare has. Opened in early July, the all-vegetarian Italian restaurant serves up classic Italian street fare and then some. The menu isn't extensive, but it's got enough for us to explore Milan to Rome and beyond. We started off with some homemade Granita (seasonal, and we had red grapes) before digging our fork and knife into the Panzerotti. It's essentially dough that's folded and stuffed with either marinara sauce and mozzarella or ricotta and sauteed mushrooms. We went with the classic marinara stuffing and we quite liked it. It's crispy and cheesy, and it can be a bit messy but still lovely!
For mains, since we spotted them making fresh fettuccine and orecchiette, we ordered a Carbonara with fettuccine and a Canotto-style Naples Margherita. The pizza arrived with a large airy crust as advertised. We quite liked the pizza—nice chewy, crispy dough. It had a nice smoky flavour, courtesy of it being baked in a wood-fired oven. We definitely want to try the Fichi E Gorgonzola the next time we're there. The other style of pizza that's there is the Romana or the Roman pizza. We've our eyes and stomachs set on trying the Stracciatella.
The pasta was cooked al dente as we enjoy, and while we did miss guanciale, this vegetarian take on it with sauteed mushrooms was well received by everyone at the table. The Puttanesca sauce, which this writer sampled, is definitely something to be ordered.
For desserts, a portion of Cannoli was polished off within seconds. The sweet ricotta just hit the spot.
