Bite This: The Don Mariscos Pasta at La Rustica

La Rustica, at Revolucion 110, is busy from the minute it opens and its popularity is well deserved. There is a big focus on pizza and pasta.   For me, a pizza must start with a great crust—nice and thin, with a crisp edge and just a little char, a result only a hot, wood fired brick oven can give. La Rustica crust gives it a competitive edge—this crust would go over well even in pizza-fussy Naples.

Our group began with an array of drinks - all excellent. I ordered the sangria, with red wine and lemon juice as the base. It was flat out the best sangria I’ve ever sipped. I had another one for good measure! The restaurant had some craft beers on the menu and excellent margaritas.

The calamari and the Caesar salad were very good starters. The pizza we ordered was topped with tender mushrooms. This was such a good choice; we ordered another one - the combination of that crispy crust and the tender mushrooms was to live for.  

The three pasta dishes also pleased. I had the mariscos variant, with mussels, shrimp and calamari and thin pasta in a slightly spicy, rich tomato sauce, not the creamy version usually encountered. When I was finished, there wasn’t a strand of pasta on the plate. So this is the dish I decided to focus on for my first “bite this” essay of the season.

What also knocked me out was the service. The waiters were fast, attentive, charming and fun. How they pulled this off in such a crowded restaurant was something to admire. They do a great job and I toast their efforts - with that  great sangria!

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