My parents were visiting from Portland, Oegon over the weekend while my dad was attending the APA conference with some of his old college friends. On Saturday, they wanted to go out to dinner with a couple of his friends and their wives. I made a reservation at Zuppa, since I had heard good reviews from a couple of friends and Italian food is usually a crowd pleaser. We walked in and were seated at this very long, long table. It must have been a (single) table for 20, but they seat one party at either end. The atmosphere is modern-rustic. It has the feel of the open kitchen, brick oven trattatoria, but has a lot of stainless steel touches and sleek details.
We started off with a couple pizzas, that were both delicious. We ordered a funghi pizza with wild mushrooms (gamboni? and another mushroom I can't remember) and another pizza, Carciofi, with artichoke & prosciutto cotto. The pizzas were absolutely delicious. The crust was thin, crunchy and chewy and the toppings were light and fresh. The sauce was sweet and it wasn't overwhelmed with cheese. This may have been my favorite part of the entire meal.
Next, Molly and I shared a chicory salad with an aged goat cheese and simple oil and vinegar dressing. A classic and tasty dish with fresh ingredients. For my entree I ordered the Tagliatelle con Granchio e Pomodorini, which was tagliatelle with fresh dungeness crab and ella bella cherry tomatoes. The crab mixed with the tomatoes and made a very light and sweet sauce. The pasta was cooked perfectly, very aldente. Molly's dish was delicious as well. She ordered the Pappardelle alla Ligure, a long wide pasta with mariquita farms green beans, fingerling potatoes, squash blossoms and pesto. The Pappardelle was cut extra thick, almost an inch wide, which gave it a great texture. The potatoes and the pesto went well together and the squash blossoms & green beans added a nice fresh element to the dish. I didn't sample everyone else's dishes, except my dad's kobe beef brisket which was delicious, but everyone seemed very pleased.
The desserts were definitely above par and the coffee was very good. We ordered a Dark Chocolate-Amaretto Tort with crispy wafer crust, fleur de sel caramel sauce, candied hazelnuts & caramel gelato and the Stone Fruit Crostata fruit filled pasty topped with vanilla gelato. Both desserts were great, but I was especially impressed the the Dark Chocolate-Amaretto Tort. The service was good, and was what I had been worried about after reading multiple reviews about the poor service. We had two bottles of delicious Italian medium-bodied reds, my favorite being the Nero d'Avola, Morgante, 2003. Most dishes also credited the local farmer they came from, which is always a good thing. Overall, I think Zuppa is good. I would definitely eat there again, especially for the Funghi pizza and a glass of wine.
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