I wrote the following review early last spring after a wonderful evening with friends at Bar La Grassa. I have since returned several times...mostly with great joy and satisfied expectations. Please go and experience for yourself...
Bar La Grassa...go. GO NOW...but select carefully. The Pappardelle with Veal Ragu was divine. Fresh noodles softly tumbled like heavy satin hair ribbons with a glazing of sauce hugging their wide shoulders. Veal, tender and succulent, reaches for your fork! No wonder pappardelle means "to gobble up!" Braised kale......my favorite winter vegetable...al dente...tossed with crisplets of meat and crumbles of ricotta!
La Grassa has Bagna Cauda! A peasant's dish of cauliflower, sliced in slabs, bathed in a redolent mixture of hot olive oil, garlic cloves & salt dried anchovy filets (at least that is how I know it). Then finished in a hot oven until smoky and golden! Someone was channeling Craig Claiborne from the 1960's! I am ecstatic to have a chef in this town who "gets" the simplicity and honesty of peasant food. Thank you.
The cons of Bar La Grassa....salt. The penne with shrimp was incredibly salty, as was the crab ravioli. Which was a pity since I'm sure the light sauces (minus the salt) would have been marvelous. Gratefully, the waitstaff kept the water glasses full.
I'm definitely keeping La Grassa on my recommend list...with just a few caveats. I plan on going back to try the Beet with Avocado and Citrus, and the Silk Handkerchiefs with Pesto! It goes with out saying the the Bagna Cauda will be on the table!
(An amusing aside, "La Grassa" means "the fat" in Italian...so Bar La Grassa means "The Fat Bar"!)
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