Unexpectedly Good

It’s been a long while since I’ve been to a restaurant where the food has been a memorable experience, which for me translates into good food—food that makes me repeat over and over again, “mmmm, this is good.” Monday night I went to a restaurant that made me say that: Bar Pitti, a small, cash only Italian restaurant in the village. The owner is Italian, the waiters are Italian, and I can only suppose that the cooks are Italian although they may very well be South American or Chinese but it doesn’t matter since they cook good Italian food.

There was a short wait in the compact space and people were even sitting outside despite the cool, windy autumn weather. While waiting and after being seated I looked at and smelled the dishes of neighboring diners and all looked and smelled wonderful. As appetizers we ordered artichokes, which were delightfully creamy in texture, and a red beet and endive salad, which was very refreshing and light. This was followed by pasta dishes—the spaghetti Bolognese and the rigatoni pitti. Both had perfectly al dente pasta and tasty sauces. The rigatoni pitti (pink sauce with turkey sausage, peas, and tomatoes) was a bit too creamy for me but since my cousin liked my dish better we traded and I had her Bolognese which was the perfect choice for a night when the weather has turned colder. But then she wanted to switch again and the creaminess of the pitti was just fine after the Bolognese. The wine selection also matched well with the food. We forewent dessert at Pitti to grab the banana caramel bread pudding at Blue Ribbon Bakery (unfortunately, the pudding was having an unusual off night).

As we were leaving Bar Pitti, my new dining neighbor received his taglietelle, which I think I might have to order next time I go. This is definitely a restaurant I will go back to visit. The space is tight but the service friendly and food good—really, what more do you need than that? Oh yes, and prices reasonable.