RESTAURANT REVIEW: Osteria Mamma!

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Last weekend Brother Charlie took the family out to dinner for Papa Tapeworms birthday at an Italian restaurant called Osteria Mamma. The Italian restaurant looks nothing special from the outside, very inconspicuous, I have driven by it countless times and have never noticed it before.

After having a rather delicious dinner Mr. Borscht and I decide to try it out for ourselves.

Osteria Mamma is a small restaurant consisting of two rooms, large blown-up black and white pictures hang on the walls, I assume it is the Osteria Mamma family photographed there. The wooden lacquered tables all have a bottle of organic EVOO made by Osteria Mamma.

Complimentary bread and sauce is served.  The bread is warm, soft, moist and chewy, the perfect texture for the tomato sauce which must have tabasco in it, I think, there is a tangy spiciness to the tomato sauce that I recognize as tabasco-flavor.  I'm not too big of a fan of the tomato sauce but the bread is great and so I eat the sauce anyway.

And because its hot out I decide to partake in a sparkling white wine spritzer that includes Apperol, I asked for a refreshing alcoholic beverage but because Osteria Mamma serves only wine and beer this interesting drink is what I get; sparkling white wine, ice, Apperol and a slice of lemon. The drink indeed is refreshing, bubbly and cooling, but the Apperol is mildly bitter which does not appeal to me.

Carpaccio di Filetto, fillet mignon carpaccio with arugula and Grana Padano cheese

We begin our dinner with a starter, Carpaccio di Filetto. Thinly THINLY sliced beef carpaccio, drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice, sprinkled with salt and white pepper, then topped with a mound of fresh crisp arugula and shaved salty Grana Padano cheese. The carpaccio is fantastic! I tend to like my carpaccio slightly thicker in slice (Osterio Mamma's carpaccio is so thin one can pull it apart quite easily with a fork) but I find I can't really complain because the citrus and white pepper, together with the spicy crisp arugula and salty shaved cheese is an absolutely wonderful combination that gets your taste buds humming. It was the perfect starter and I highly recommend it if you have no qualms eating raw red meat.

For our main course, Mr. Borscht and I both order the Gnocchi ai Porcini. The Gnocchi is melt-in-your-mouth (literally)! Buttery and full of Jidori Chicken flavors with mild undertones of Porcini mushroom. Should you not like mushrooms this is still a great dish to order as the mushroom flavor is light. It is thus far the best gnocchi I've come across and not at all boring as many gnocchi dishes tend to be. There is a feeling of love and tenderness from eating the gnocchi at Osteria Mamma, perhaps it is the strong but subtle flavors combined with the buttery and soft gnocchi, a pleasant texture for the palate, resulting in a slow and savoring dining experience.