I noticed Rigoletto Osteria trending as one of the hot new restaurants so Salumi and I decided to give it a try for our long overdue dining excursion.

antipasti – prosciutto, coppa, bruschetta, pickled onions, tomato caprese; the cured meats were tasty, I liked the mozzarella the best on this dish

squid ink risotto – with shrimp, nice briney flavor, but the risotto wasn’t cooked al dente enough, resulting in a rather chalky texture

veal scallopini – extremely tender, but overly salty; the sauce didn’t seem to add much flavor

The space is beautiful, a restored historical building with lovely brick interiors, secluded gauze booths, balcony seating, and a bench seating area for large groups. The ambience transports you to a romantic time, away from the hubbub of the urban world outside. While our waitress was attentive at first, she seemed to rush us toward the end of the meal, asking it was okay if she went ahead and asked the chef to put our entrée in the oven. I thought it might have been getting late as we weren’t more than halfway finished with our second course, but it was only 9:30 when we finished. Maybe because the dining room we were seated in had emptied and they were putting away dishware for the night, but something felt rushed. They had also sold out of 3 of the entrees/pastas by 7:30 as they had a busy night. Overall I like the feeling of Rigoletto, but I’m not in love with the food.

SUMMARY
Overall: bittersweet endings
Highlight: ambience
Footnotes: the restaurant is nearly impossible to find – it’s tucked in the alley between a the buildings of an apartment complex; they are still relatively new – opened October 2014 so they may still be ironing out the kinks