bottega louie

bottega louie
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (50/143)
when it came time to go out for the m's birthday, i picked bottega louie because--he wanted something casual, we hadn't been before and they have two of his favorites, pasta and pizza. this place is so casual that they don't take reservations, but luckily, we didn't have too much of a wait, about 10-15 mins on a saturday evening. even though it's casual, it still feels upscale, so you feel like you're getting a nice meal without worrying about what piece of silverware to use.

we started by sharing the basic arugula salad with red onions in a lemon vinaigrette with shaved pecorino that was spicy from the fresh arugula and prepared well--light on the dressing. m chose a napoli pizza, which i thought was ok, not great. he enjoyed it. toppings include mushrooms, red onions, and olives with a tomato sauce. i liked that they put two of my favorites together--mushrooms and kalamata olives.

our waitress recommended the tagliatelle bolognese. i love bolognese, so couldn't argue with it. it was tasty, but not as good as i had imagined due to the expectations set by the waitress. i liked the delicateness of the pasta. we also shared a couple sides, including the lightly battered portabello fries and some arancini arrabiata, which are these fried rice balls. the portabello fries consist of portabello mushroom slices deep fried. the crispy breading added some texture, and it was yummy with the pesto aioli. i enjoyed the smokiness and crunch from the bits of bacon in the arancini. they have quite a selection of sides, so if you didn't want to fill up on an entree, you could get a few sides. another plus is the amount of wine you get, when you order by the glass. you get a half glass typical of most places, then extra in a small carafe to refill the glass. etiquette is often such that you only get a partial glass even though you are supposedly ordering a glass. it was nice that wasn't the case here.

for dessert, i had an eclair from their pastry shop. it was ok as far as eclairs go, but the peanut butter terrine the m picked was excellent. the combination of slightly salty peanut butter with rich chocolate was so good.

overall, i think the meal was enjoyable, and found the ingredients to be fresh and high quality, but the ambiance lends itself to being more of a fun place to go as a group where you don't have to worry about being loud. they have plenty of large tables, and the place gets pretty loud due to the carpetless flooring and high ceilings no matter how quiet people are. we weren't too bothered by the noise, but it's definitely not the place to go if you're looking for a romantic evening. service was fast and friendly. they have a great selection of deli and dessert items for quick take out, too.

my only complaint was the cost. though i thought the food was tasty, i don't think it was special enough to warrant how much they charge. it seems that you could get similar offerings cheaper elsewhere.