Pear Pasta at La Giostra
Students who come to Italy are frequently told by past students and even faculty of two amazing restaurants that have a specialty dish in common: Pear Pasta. A foreign taste of a savory cheese melted together inside freshly made pasta with a sweet slice of pear is a dish that 4 Leoni and La Giostra have mastered. But which is better? To decide I took myself, two of my friends, my notepad, and my camera to each of the restaurants and try each of their pear pastas while keeping an eye out for the quality of their service, the ambiance of each restaurant, the presentation of each dish, and of course, most importantly, the taste!
On a Saturday evening two of my friends and I sat down at 4 Leoni under one of the white umbrellas that litter the piazza that the restaurant spills out onto from its turquoise interior. Immediately bringing a basket of freshly baked bread and glasses prosecco, the waiter began to speak to us in Italian until he realized that we could not understand him when he spoke so quickly and switched to excellent English. The fact that he assumed we were Italian made the place feel more authentic than I had thought previously but his, and all of the waiters, easy transition to English was very helpful. As we sat on the piazza, splitting an appetizer of mixed pecorino cheese with honey (12 euro) and a carafe of house red wine (12 euro) , we talked and laughed and watched the people who moved in and out of the piazza with their children leaping around at their legs or arm and arm with their lover. The waiter gave us the perfect amount of time to finish our appetizer without swooping in the second we had finished to take our order for a entrée. For our entrée we ordered three “Fiocchetti di pera in salsa di taleggio e asparagi”, essentially large tortellini stuffed with pear in a taleggio (a white, creamy, mild cheese) and asparagus sauce. The pasta came out quickly, all at once, and we sat in silence, overwhelmed with the delicate presentation and sweet aroma wafting up to our noses before we carefully cut a small bite, trying to get a little bit of every taste, the pasta, the pear inside, the small slices of asparagus, and the tallegio sauce onto one forkful. The blend of the tastes was exceptional, light, sweet yet savory, and incredibly satisfying. I cut each piece of pasta into four pieces in attempt to savor each bite. By the end, the small portion of pasta had not filled us up so we ordered their famous cheesecake topped with fresh berries, which was almost more delectable than the pasta dish. We were given time to talk and enjoy our meal and our conversation with the waiter appearing only when needed and leaving us to our night the rest of the time. The atmosphere in the Piazza was quaint and authentically Italian but still had an air of fine dining with a touch of rusticity. The pasta itself was 10 euros, a bargain for the taste, and the entire meal including a 1.50 coperto, a liter of red wine split three ways, a mixed pecorino and honey and two pieces of cheesecake split three ways at 6 euro each cost me an alarmingly small amount of 23 euros for a mélange of wonderful tastes, the perfect amount of service, and a beautiful backdrop for a dinner with friends.
On Thursday evening I walked the short distance from my apartment to La Giostra to meet my two friends for their farewell dinner. We were welcomed by a warm atmosphere in a long cave-like room sparkling with twinkle lights and candles. Despite the Italian wine-celleresque atmosphere, one of the first things that I noticed were that the waiters spoke to us automatically in English, and everyone in the restaurant was American, mostly families I assumed because of how expensive I had heard the place was. We were greeted in English by our waiter and brought large glasses of prosecco that we were told were a welcoming gift from the princes who owned the restaurant. The waiter was very helpful with the menu and we asked for bread after we ordered since we had not been brought any. Instead of bread we were pleasantly surprised with an assortment of appetizers on the house, three of everything, one for each of us. We ordered the cheapest bottle of red wine at 28 euro, which they made a show of pouring into three different glasses, them emptying, and pouring into a special carafe, we were not sure why and they did not explain. The wine was exceptional though. Then our pastas came out, I had ordered the “Ravioli di Pecorino toscano e pere William's” (pear and pecorino ravioli), and my friends had ordered a gorgonzola, pear, and pistachio pennete, and an asparagus and zucchini risotto. There were four large ravioli, coated in a light sauce in the dish. The pasta was very good, but heavier than the pasta at 4 Leoni. The actual pasta at 4 Leoni had been a lot thinner and lighter, the pasta that surrounded the pecorino and pear here was much thicker and made it more difficult to taste the delicate flavors of the pear and cheese inside. The taste of the pecorino was also a lot stronger than the pear taste, which was also not the case at 4 Leoni. My friend who had ordered the pennete with gorgonzola, pears, and pisacchio could not even find the pears in her dish and it was far too salty for her to finish. The asparagus and zucchini risotto was good but nothing out of this world for the 14 euro we paid per plate. We decided against dessert because dinner had been expensive enough and we were asked if we would like some limoncello, tequila, vodka etc on the house. We said yes to limoncello thinking they would bring out the traditional shot per person to sip as an after-dinner drink but after 20 minutes had passed and we were wondering if we should leave or not we were brought an entire half liter of limoncello! We were shocked because we usually have a hard time finishing one small glass worths and do it more out of Italian tradition than an affinity for limoncello, but the waiter kept coming back and filling up our drinks while another waiter kept giving us looks like it was time to leave because people were waiting for our table. A lot of mixed messages. Even with all the free prosecco, appetizers, and limoncello, the 3 euro each coperto, bottle of their cheapest wine, and pasta dishes wound up costing us 28 euro each.
If you could not tell already, I much preferred 4 Leoni to La Giostra. The atmosphere was much nicer on the piazza than in the sparkling cave and the service at 4 Leoni was authentic, without waiters trying to make you feel special by bringing you a large amount of things on the house, but doing it for everyone. And the fact that La Giostra brought us such large amount of limoncello and then insisted on making us drink it made me think that, 1. It is sad that they think that American girls our age will like their restaurant more by helping/forcing us get drunk for free and 2. That they are catering to Americans in the first place. Besides the superiority of the ambiance, service, cost, and dining experience, the pear pasta at 4 Leone was just plain better.
Pear Pasta at 4 Leoni
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