Farfalla

With the passing of Osteria Nonni around the corner in Atwater Village, Farfalla moves up in the ranks, assuming the status of Our Favorite Nearby Italian Restaurant. This is a little unfair, because the 2 places belong in different categories, the differentiating criteria being price and ambience. (Farfalla = pricier and more acoustically live.) Moreover, Osteria Nonni’s menu offerings were homier, as suggested by the name, which would translate as “Grandpa and Grandma’s Eatery.”

(I must be stuck in a Kübler-Ross grief stage, writing about a defunct restaurant in an entry that is ostensibly about a vital one.)

So, Farfalla on it’s own merits. Well, they are abundant. I’ll mention the decor (aforementioned exposed brick and big plate glass windows) first, simply because you encounter it before getting to the food. The second thing you encounter is the tray of desserts, strategically located on a sideboard near the front door. In most restaurants, I pass on desserts. (I have cultivated a dessert-snobbery as a desparate weight management measure. “Only the finest of fats will harden these arteries! What? You expect me to end up with Type 2 Diabetes from that? ) But not here, I don’t pass, no sirree, Bob. They are exceptionally good: fully-fatted, but not overly sweet. As for antipasti and primi and secondi piatti, everything we have ever had brought to the table was well-prepared and of the best quality. Unlike at so many other restos, I have not settled on 2 or 3 items to rotate through. I regularly find myself wandering all over the menu and the specials board, and I’m consistently pleased with what I’m eating. Plenty of good wines to choose from among.

In the Celebrity Sighting Department, we have dined in close proximity to at least one act-person who once portrayed a secondary character in a Star Trek spin-off.