Spasso Italian Grill

This season for Restaurant Week we went to Spasso Italian Grill on Front. We have a tendency to do Italian for Restaurant Week (Le Castagne, Ristorante Panorama) because we rarely go out for Italian, mostly because we dont like to pay as much as it normally costs. So when we can get it cheaper, we go for it.

Spasso had the highest ratings on Yelp for the Italian places we were looking at and so we decided to try it. And I am very glad we did. It is so isolated way over on Front (between Market and Chestnut, south of Swanky Bubbles) we never would have just gone I dont think. The food was excellent, the service was delightful (a great Italian lady who reminds me of one of my Italian aunts), the portions were huge and the people watching was great. The place was almost packed by the time we left, and they weren't all Restaurant Week people. We were a little concerned when we had no trouble getting a reservation and were given a booth even though we were only 2. But the dining area is deceptively large and they were not hurting for customers. We had a bottle of Chianti and we were brought bread (when was the last time you got bread a a restaurant) and a mixed grilled veggie in olive oil . . . thing, like a chunky tapenade. It was really really good. The veggies were perfectly grilled and it was a nice change over just bread and butter. Then we started with Spiedini de Mozzarella (bread and mozzarella skewers, grilled with an anchovy/tomato sauce) and Arancini (fried balls of risotto stuffed with cheese served with pomodoro). Both were fantastic. I thought the sauce with the spiedini was a little anchovy-heavy, but I am not a huge anchovy fan. And really, how do you make risotto better? Fry it up and stuff it with cheese :-) We then both got a plate of penne pomodoro. I like their pomodoro, it tastes like tomatoes, the way it should. And they cooked the penne to a perfect al dente. For our main courses we had Gnocchi Con Asparagi (perfectly made and cooked gnocchi in a light asiago, truffle oil and asparagus broth) and Involtone di Manzo (beef rolled with proscuitto, spinach and mozzarella in a mushroom demi glace with fresh veggies). Both were excellent. I was concerned by the word "broth" with the gnocchi but it was more like a really light cream sauce. The gnocchis may be the best we have had in the city and the portion was huge. We rarely order beef out (except for burgers) but I am so glad we did. It was SO beefy! Mmmmm . . . it was really excellent. For dessert we had a cannoli (which was enormous and filled with the best chocolate chip filling ever [ok, maybe second to Mike's]) and tiramisu (possibly the best I have ever had). Both had the perfect amount of their respective cheeses, perfect amounts of sweetness. Just lovely. See?

So all in all I would HIGHLY recommend this place. The dinner prices are not cheap, but a couple could split a single appetizer, entree and dessert and be more than satisfied. And everything else we saw come out of the kitchen looked fantastic.