What to Get at Sotto

At work, we’ve decided to start up Fancy Lunch Day! It’s one day a month where we splurge on someplace special for lunch. I had dibs on the first one and knew we had to go to Sotto! They’re only a couple of blocks away and I’ve been dying to go!

They’re right next to Boca – another place I’m dying to go – but Boca isn’t open for lunch. Booo! Sotto is down a precarious staircase and, once inside, a dark little cozy place! Exposed brick and the smell of delicious Italian food – I’m ready!

Their lunch menu has a nice variety of options that are in the $15 range- which is great for Fancy Lunch Day. Maria had been before – she lives in Northside and is the consummate Milennial Hipster – trying everything new and cool in downtown. (HAHAHA – JK Hussy!) Sotto isn’t even that new – I just like to give her a hard time.

We decided to try a couple of appetizers as well – first up was the Goat Cheese, Honey and Hazelnut Bruschetta ($8). It’s a different take on a bruschetta and it was tasty – I don’t love honey and hazelnut but am a bit obsessed about Goat Cheese. (side note: goat cheese dip at Bru Burger). The toast was good with a slight sweetness to it and we definitely enjoyed the dish. It’s enough to share between 2-3 people.

We also got the small prosciutto tasting ($11) because I’m a prosciutto addict. My favorite way to have it is wrapped around cantaloupe or a fresh pear. This was served with arugula and some fresh parm. I truly love prosciutto and – trust me – we finished every last bite – but it was a bit odd to just have a plate of meat with nothing to eat it with. I would rather have this served with fresh melon/pears to showcase the fantastic prosciutto. If you’ve never had prosciutto – it is truly amazing – almost a cheesy texture if you have the good stuff – so good!

There was also just a bowl of salt on the table. You can’t go wrong there! I might have been so hungry that I ate a little salt on its own. 🙂

Our server told us the two most popular dishes – one of which is the Fusilli ala Vodka with Sausage ($13). Maria & Monica got this dish and let me try a bite. It was nice – very light – and a super light sauce – it’s not a sauce that tastes like it’s been cooked for hours and hours – it was good – but acidic.

The other popular dish is the Short Rib Cappellacci ($14) made with shallot, amish butter and thyme. This was my choice because if it says short rib on the menu – that’s what I get. I was a little bummed that the short rib is sort of ground up in the cappellacci (fancy ravioli). The fresh pasta is delicious – 100%. The short rib just isn’t very short rib-y. It’s also very heavy on the butter. I get acid reflux so I was glad I got this over the fusilli – but it’s pretty much a butter sauce. All in all – I liked it – but wasn’t blown away.

What to Get at Sotto: We liked everything but weren’t completely blown away – it was definitely a nice fancy lunch day. I loved the fresh pasta and I think that’s where they thrive. If I were to go for dinner – this dish definitely has me drooling: Tagliolini con Funghi ($24) – chanterelles, corn crema and Parmesano Reggiano – fresh pasta, mushrooms and a cream sauce? Yes Please!