Luce

Last Saturday night, Mary and I had dinner at Luce. We've been to its more casual sister restaurant, Coco Osteria, several times, but we were hesitant to try Luce because of its reputation of being overpriced. But after watching Rudy Maxa traipse around the Amalfi Coast, we decided to give Luce a try.

We arrived about 15 minutes before our 8pm reservation, hoping to get a glass of prosecco at the bar before dinner. When we called for the reservation, we also heard someone in the background saying how they were fully-booked and anyone who was late would just have to wait. But early wasn't a guarantee of not waiting, as it turned out; we weren't seated until around 8:20. True, it's a small restaurant, but the wait was rather frustrating. The prosecco, however, was tasty.

The menu is set up American style — no primi or secondi here, just appetizers, salads, and entrees. We were pleased to find that the food was reasonably priced — most entrees were in the $18-25 range, and the salads and appetizers were generally under $10.

Mary and I both had a Caesar salad. It was fine, but there wasn't anything special or memorable about it. For the main course, I had the garganelli — beef tips and penne pasta in a rich gravy. It tasted wonderful, and while the pasta was probably a minute past al dente, that didn't detract that much from the dish. Mary had the veal picatta, which was also quite good.

They have a nice wine list with a strong emphasis on Italian reds. We had a nice Brunello, although not the one I intended to order when I arrived. I spent about 15 minutes going over the wine list online, and had settled on a nice 1999 Il Poggione, but the website's list is horribly out of date and that bottle wasn't available.

The service was spotty, from start to finish. We had to wait for everything — the table, the food, and the check. It was a busy night, but the delays were a bit much. But Mary and I are going to give Luce a second chance — the food is worth at least that.