hey @porkybelly,
it’s vitello alla saltimbocca. veal with prosciutto and sage. i’m a sucker for sage. pretty good, though i’ve yet to come across one that i thought was worth the opportunity cost of an additional pasta.
my ideal Italian meal is usually an appetizer and many, many pastas. maybe end with a sorbetto or tiramisu. but many pastas.
You and I have similar philosophies when it comes to Italian food. I have even been known to order an additional pasta for dessert.
I did not, mostly because we had just gone to Santo Palato in the spring and didn’t need to pay that much for their greatest hits so soon. 
It was less than a trip to Italy though…
Utterly agree- pastas all the way. I was listening to Dave Chang’s podcast yesterday and he happened to talk about etiquette when eating out for Italian- that we should always be ordering a secondi. Personally I disagree with this. There are plenty of times where none of the menu’s secondi really speak to me, so I’ll order a few extra pastas. If it’s from a bill pov, often times this will exceed the potential bill had I gone with a meat or fish. If it’s just from a traditional menu chronology pov, I think personal enjoyment is key and if what I want is more and more pasta, then that’s what matters.
I can live on pasta and sushi, all day everyday.
yeah i’m not sure about the etiquette of ordering secondi - that’s kind of news to me. in italy we’ve been most satisfied with ordering an extra pasta. maybe split one secondi among 2-3 people, but certainly not a secondi per person. my friends from Umbria and I did this in Umbria and Rome with no issues, so i don’t think it was bad etiquette. in Rome, Venice, Florence, and Ravello with family, we were fine with apps and pastas. the secondis consistently underperformed for us at trattorias and osterias. maybe the etiquette is different for ristorantes.
in LA when i’m with one other person, it’s usually just 2 or maybe 3 apps, a pasta each or a 3rd o split if we’re hungry, maybe one dessert, no secondi. perhaps it’s because pasta portions here aren’t really “primi sized” like (70-90 ish g of pasta). i get the sense at Mother Wolf that a primi + secondi per person is probably too much food - most people around us didn’t seem to order that way. plus at Funke-plex, isn’t pasta the calling card? tagliata or scottadito are nice but not as unique, too.
agreed
loved Sara’s carbonara
my impression was his take was from a check average perspective and that ordering an app and one pasta for your main was bad etiquette.
That’s @LouisianaMouth 's fav dish at MW. Saltimbocca alla Romana
Do people in Italy really have a secondi after a primi every meal? It seems like time, calorie, and money restraints make this far-fetched.
Not every time but quite often. Prices for pasta and secondi are much lower in the US so that the cost/money isn’t a factor. The portions of pasta and secondi are also much smaller than here - pasta is often 1/2, sometimes even 1/3 of pasta portions here and so calorie intake is often lower than with a primi and secondi than just with a pasta dish here. And Italians (and many European countries) take much longer time for dinner in general
not many of my Italian friends do
I think it was more common in the three martini (or negroni) lunch era
Old-fashioned notion. I don’t think there are many places in Italy where that’s true any more.
In the US, most Italian menus aren’t portioned to order both primi and secondi. I like to eat that way but usually have significant leftovers from the main course.
No. At some restaurants most people do, but the portions of the secondi are typically modest by American standards.
True to some extent, but salaries are also lower.
Preach.
When we went a few years ago I was moderately shocked at the number of italians I saw eating their own personal appetizer, pasta, and then secondi. Somehow they weren’t all 300 pounds.
The people who eat that way every day are kinda fat. The ones who do it twice a day are definitely fat.
Any recs on the wine list? Looking for something in the 100ish dollar range
The Ottella Roses Roses 2023 veneto at ~$90 if you like rosé under Corvina and other grapes.
Gaglioppo, Sergio Arcuri “Aris” Ciro 2019, Calabria, $115
Ermes Pavese “Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle”
Went last night. Food was great as usual. What was not great is the pacing between appetizers and the pizza. It’s the 2nd time this happened to us. There was ~30-40 minute wait between the last appetizer and the first pizza. What was more annoying is nobody checking on us or coming by to explain the situation. After the first pizza came there was another 10-15 minute wait and the waiter started to put down pasta spoons. It’s not the end of the world but they really need to address the pizza timing. The last pizza was dropped on the table after the first 2 pastas.
The best squash blossoms we’ve ever had and a must order for us.
Kids wanted burrata and prosciutto. We needed some type of bread.
The seasonal foraged mushroom and sausage pizza was stupendous. The kiss of pesto rounded it out.
Ametriciana is our favorite pasta. Well sauced and the pasta is just perfectly al dente.
Arrabiatta had more kick than usual.
Diavola. My son says he can eat 2 of these pizzas and the ametriciana by himself. I don’t want to find out. Did they load us up with more salami bc the pizza came out an hour late?
Carbonara. If you like a very eggy creamy version this is for you. Perfect Al dente pasta.
