Spiaggia

I was a little worried about coming to Spiaggia, because I had read some uncomplimentary reviews on Yelp regarding the service, especially to younger people who are "out of place." Nonetheless, I was chomping at the bit to come because of all the good food reviews and descriptions of the view from the dining room.

Our waiter came and was crazy polite and very helpful. The wine list was...heh, wow. I just asked for his advice on one of the less expensive bottles we could drink throughout all of our courses. His choice was very nice... my mistake was googling it the next day when I got home. Wow, big price markup! But I guess that's the way it is... and it makes no sense to come to a place like this and complain about the price; you just have to enjoy it! And we did.

At Spiaggia you order a three course Italian meal, or a tasting menu. Since Becky and I are both on nutrisystem we didn’t think we could handle an 8 course tasting menu meal, so we ordered *just* three courses, plus dessert :P Cheating on the diet never tasted so good! I apologize for the quality of these pictures, I left my camera at home and so used the Blackberry’s camera, which is ok in a pinch but which leaves a lot to be desired. Their online menu is up to date and detailed, so I have details for most of the dishes…


(Surprise) Complimentary Amuse…
I didn’t actually catch what it was when it was carefully explained. Neither did Becky, I guess we should stare less and listen more! It was creamy. I was already having a good time when…


Wood-roasted rabbit loin wrapped in pancetta with Anson Mills spin rosso integrale polenta and rabbit liver mousse
At long last, the rabbits have ceased hopping away from my grasp. Rick Steves’ said to try the rabbit at a place I went in Italy, but they were out. Thus began my desire to try some. I thought I would get some at Schwa, but they changed their menu from what it was online. But at Spiaggia the rabbits could not hop away, and were goooooood. This dish was amazing. The texture was incredible… The stuff on top was crunchy and the meat was tender. Dip it into sauce and the juice from those three round things, oh my goodness… ridiculously amazingly good.

5 different kinds of breads!
I didn’t think to take a picture. They cook their own breads, I had two of the kinds and they were good. A bread guy walked around throughout the meal and gave us more. One of them was described as a bread ball with ricotta cheese inside… obviously I knew I was going to have to try that. It was good and different than I expected; there’s not a lot of cheese inside, it’s kind of spread throughout the dough so it tastes cheesy. Yum ?


Hand rolled potato gnocchi with ricotta sauce with Umbrian black truffles
It seems like every review on Yelp heaps praise on this dish, so Becky and I both ended up getting it. It was good, but I liked my other two dishes more. Definitely it is saved by the truffle sauce, which makes or breaks a bite. You have to make sure each forkful moves through it!


Sardinian asfodelo honey lacquered duck breast with duck sausage, garlic, rapini and creamy yellow polenta
This was obscenely good. I again enjoyed the contrast in texture between the tender meat and the other items on the plate. The duck was amazing and the polenta delicious. Together… indescribable. Wow for sure.

We received a complimentary plate of tiny little pastries, which I forgot to photograph and which weren’t anything to write home about.

My yelp review rating: 5 stars. The service was perfect, the food crazily delicious. Something people like to complain on in yelp is the small portion sizes, but if you have the 3-course Italian-style meal, it is pretty perfect. I guess I can understand why Americans feel that way, but that really is how they do it. I was very, very pleased.