Sfoglina, Pastaria by the Owners of Fiola, Now in Several Area Locations

[NolaCaine]

Really enjoyed lunch today and think its a great location for business lunches. Appreciated the "Maria lunch" which is 3 courses. My  "date" who I did not know before lunch, had pasta but didn't eat all of the red sauce. It took all of my self-control (and a little germ phobia) to not sop it up with bread. Also, it's picturesque. 

Maria today featured a quinoa and arugula salad lightly dressed. Perfect. I followed it up with an arctic char. At first, I thought that the acid was too acidy (lemon) but as I ate, everything melded together nicely. I didn't have maria's dessert instead opting for their fruit of the day (plumbs with picturesque mini flower pedals and a little sugar, but I was told that, couldn't taste it. 

Stopped at the Calvert Woodly on the way back. Got some cheese, bread, chocolate and would have gotten wine but was too afraid I'd drop it on metro. 

[naxos]

Had a great dinner celebrating a birthday last Tuesday. There were 6 of us and we were seated in the pasta room- quiet and private . We had great service and really enjoyed the pastas- I had white truffle with mine! The soft polenta with mushroom appetizer and grilled calamari and octopus were highlights!

Happy to return!

[Marty L.]

Any other recent experiences? Is one location better (foodwise) than the other now?  Any dishes that are must-orders or musts-to-avoid?

[Simon]

15 minutes ago, Marty L. said:

Any other recent experiences? Is one location better (foodwise) than the other now?  Any dishes that are must-orders or musts-to-avoid?

I've only been to Van Ness.  The tortellini was the best of the pastas I've had recently.  In general, I've found that the sauces / proteins are not treated with anywhere near the care and refinement you'd expect at Fiola or Fiola Mare: the lobster in the squid ink linguine was tough and overcooked, the lamb ragu over salty.  

Given what I expect the margins are on these pastas, I can see why they converted Casa Luca to another Sfoglina...

[DonRocks]

8 minutes ago, Simon said:

I've only been to Van Ness.  The tortellini was the best of the pastas I've had recently.  In general, I've found that the sauces / proteins are not treated with anywhere near the care and refinement you'd expect at Fiola or Fiola Mare: the lobster in the squid ink linguine was tough and overcooked, the lamb ragu over salty.  

Given what I expect the margins are on these pastas, I can see why they converted Casa Luca to another Sfoglina...

This is certainly a theoretical problem with the expansion of Sfoglina - it doesn't take a lot of training to cook good pasta; it takes a *lot* of training and experience to consistently execute good sauces (the saucier is an *extremely* important component in a traditional restaurant brigade).

[Simon]

40 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

This is certainly a theoretical problem with the expansion of Sfoglina - it doesn't take a lot of training to cook good pasta; it takes a *lot* of training and experience to consistently execute good sauces (the saucier is an *extremely* important component in a traditional restaurant brigade).

Yes, this is a completely valid point, but I'd also say that I've observed these issues with the sauces from the earliest, pre-expansion days of Sfoglina.  Finesse in the sauces has never been there, even as the pastas themselves have often been excellent.

[DonRocks]

16 minutes ago, Simon said:

Yes, this is a completely valid point, but I'd also say that I've observed these issues with the sauces from the earliest, pre-expansion days of Sfoglina.  Finesse in the sauces has never been there, even as the pastas themselves have often been excellent.

Do you know how Sfoglina gets their sauces? They could be made at the individual locations (which doesn't seem to make much sense, especially if they have plans of further expansion), in a central location, or they could purchase them - the latter two options would almost certainly involve sous-vide reheating at the individual locations.