LA PIETRA CUCINA

He says:
La Pietra Cucina sure is an ugly restaurant. Located in the middle of Uptown among the strip malls, traffic lights, and exhaust of passing MARTA buses, it is unhappily situated in the lobby of an office tower. Everything from the walls to the booths is a murky, brownish red, as if the restaurant were trapped inside a human liver. The tables are dim and the artwork is dreary. If the décor needs lightening up, the service needs toning down. Our waiter was so enthused about the daily specials I thought he might jump on our table and start doing a jig.

Fortunately, the food is worth dancing about. In a city with a surprisingly weak Italian scene, La Pietra Cucina stands apart for the freshness of its ingredients and the novelty of its entrees.

She says:
The Prosciutto di Parma is a great sharing appetizer. Generous heaps of prosciutto are piled atop flatbread and are accompanied by in-house ricotta and a sweet pineapple mostarda. The combination has it all – sweet, salty, creamy – and I promise that by the time the last fleck of prosciutto is gone you’ll be planning your next visit just to get more of that incredible ricotta.

La Pietra Cucina is also known for its handmade pasta, which is made fresh daily. They really do get it right, with their delicate noodles coming out perfectly al dente. My dish was a mushroom lover’s dream, five different types of mushrooms mixed with a very light cream sauce over tagliatelle. For such rich ingredients it was surprising light, though my umami tastebuds were in hyperdrive.

He says:
The black spaghetti is a striking dish, not only for its squid ink-colored pasta, but also for the intensity of its flavors. Chunks of hot Italian sausage provide a rich, satisfying burn with every bite while the plentiful rock shrimp offers a chewy, textural contrast. This is an excellent dish, but it’s not for the weak of heart – if you can’t handle spice, you might want to avoid this entrée.

The lemon custard is terrific. Citrus desserts are often too acidic – think key lime pie with too much lime – but this custard softens its edges perfectly, extracting the full flavor of the fruit while cutting out the tangy finish. It’s a marvelous trick and I couldn’t get enough of it.

We say:
Ugly restaurant, but beautiful food.




La Pietra Cucina
1545 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.lapietracucina.com/