Urbanspoon ran a contest to encourage use of its save feature, which I use regularly to track the restaurants I’m interested in trying as the are simply too many to keep track of in my head, and randomly drew me as their winner for a gift card to use at one of the restaurants on my list – Vespolina. I’d like to thank Urbanspoon for giving me the opportunity to try this restaurant!
I had been to the restaurant during the new year when it had just opened as Argona – Spanish tapas and had enjoyed the complexity and inventiveness of their dishes. But when you run an empire built on hand made pasta already, customers are interested more in pasta than they were daring Spanish cuisine, which has no pasta at all. Jason Stratton heard the feedback and bravely revamped the entire restaurant to go back to his Italian roots. The restaurant architecture and design remain the same, but the name and menu are entirely new.
antipasti misto – the sampler appetizer platter, mortedella, beet and sardine on crostini – a nice balance with beets and sea foam, calamari in hummus – a nice combination reaching a little bit closer to the eastern Mediterranean
lamb pasta – with pine nuts, the sauce was delicious though minimal to let the pasta shine through, there’s a certain chew and springiness that makes the pasta so enjoyable at all of his restaurants. The lamb pasta, while similar to the one we had at Rione XIII (also quite delicious), this one had less tomato and dreamy pasta.
braised duck – with pears, the combination with pear works quite well though the duck was a touch try, loved the flavor and the broth it was in
pumpkin spice parfait – with shaved crème fraiche, pumpkin cubes, toasts, and bourbon caramel sauce, this dessert had so much going on in it I’m not sure either of us knew what to make of it at first, mild firmness from the pumpkin, hard crunch from the toasts, melting softness from the crème fraiche shavings, and then sweetened with the caramel. Definitely worth trying!
Overall, the Black Knight and I thoroughly enjoyed Vespolina and it lives up to its brand of legendary pasta. Service is attentive and the space is airy. We ordered just enough for the two of us, even though the waitress recommended two pastas and two entrees in addition to the antipasti.
SUMMARY
Overall: happily ever after
Highlights: lamb pasta, pumpkin spice parfait
Footnotes: there’s a large bar area that you can sit at and order the same great food without the fuss of fine dining; we went on a Tuesday night and had no problem getting a table without reservations
