Steff B.
Yelp
Came to La Stalla for a birthday dinner. It was nothing short of a fantastic meal! We had reservations but they were clearly busy, bordering on chaotic. Yet our server was chill as a cucumber, attentive, and on point as we asked him questions. We were a hungry table of 4 so we did our own 'family style' (not their official family style menu - just ordering individual portions of everything and sharing them). I am thrilled to say the portions 'for one' are extremely generous - you get both quality and quantity here, which I find to be an increasingly rare treat!
Here is what we ordered, as well as what I especially *recommend. Everything ordered was the 'for one' portion (except for the salad, which was 'for two'):
BRUSCHETTA CAPRESE (4 pieces) - Crisp but not overly crunchy, this was a nice and bright starter. It was tasty, with a bite of fresh mozzarella atop each of the pieces. (That said, the house bread they serve is REALLY good - so next time we might order something in place of this.)
*EGGPLANT ROLLATINI (2 large pieces) - This was a last minute add to our order, in lieu of tacking on another pasta entree. And what an add it was! Did not disappoint. The prosciutto added a nice saltiness that balanced well with the ricotta, and the eggplant was of course perfectly cooked - and well sliced, too, so that it didn't get lost in the ricotta (which I find often happens with this dish). The sauce was great, too, and this was a favorite of the table.
ORANGE SICILIANA SALAD ('for two' - definitely could have ordered 'for one,' though) - Light and refreshing. Definitely get a bite of orange with your forkful of spring greens! This was a pretty simple salad, but I'm glad we got it, as it was a nice balance to the heavier/creamier dishes we ordered.
*RIGATONI CARBONARA - Oh, this was a contender for my favorite dish. I'm normally a sucker for tradition and while they use bacon instead of pancetta...holy cow, I would eat this any day of the week. The sauce was incredibly flavorful and clung so perfectly to every bite of rigatoni. The onions were caramelized to perfection, and each ingredient was just singing as you ate it. I guess I'll throw my traditionalist preconceptions out the window: This might be the best carbonara I've ever ordered.
*BLACK TRUFFLE SACCHETTI - These are basically fresh pasta purses of ricotta - but there's nothing basic about them! I actually couldn't tell you if the black truffle shavings were inside the sacchetti or in the sauce: the sacchetti were so creamy inside, and the butter/almond sage sauce was just divine, and everything was cooked to perfection. We were debating between this or the mushroom risotto - maybe someday I'll try the risotto, but I don't think there's a chance we come back and DON'T order this for the table!
FETTUCINE BOLOGNESE - They are very flexible about mixing and matching pastas, so we were quite happy to get a nice, twirlable pasta with their bolognese to balance all the white sauces we had across our other shared entrees. This was good, and definitely great to have a red sauce for balance, but not a dish I'd go out of my way to return for (it may have just been outshone by the other pasta entrees we ordered).
We also ordered one of the bombas for dessert: strawberry, chocolate, and pistachio gelato covered in a chocolate shell and topped with drizzled chocolate and whipped cream. It was a great finish to the meal (though it was a little different than advertised - it tasted more like ice cream than gelato and had a dark chocolate shell instead of white chocolate - all good though). We also got the straight pistachio gelato which was flavorful, and I also ordered the strawberry margarita, which was ABSOLUTELY delicious - highly recommend it!
My only complaint is the noise level in the restaurant. It's a beautiful ambiance - warm stonework in the main dining space, and nice open architecture - but it is SO LOUD as a result of all the hard surfaces. There was a lot of repeated conversation at our table just because it was difficult to hear with the ambient noise. Next time we might try to request a table on the side section of the restaurant - perhaps the sound will be better there? You can guarantee we'll be back, though!!!