Farfalla Trattoria

Doesn't this close up make you drool?

Hello dear loyal followers of mine. Just kidding. I'm sure my lack of blogging activity is quite off-putting to those of you who like to read. I promise to become more active. And now that it's in writing, for all the world to see, I will have to uphold this solemn vow. We will now commence with some regularly scheduled food-driven content. I have recently uprooted myself from Ohio and am now a resident of the City of Angels (I'm listening to red hot chili peppers as I write to set the mood). If I had to name my single favorite thing about LA, without hesitation, it would be the amount of beautiful, varied, amazing, and authentic ethnic foods that surround me. This city was built by immigrants and I think that's what makes it so amazing. I would pick a hole-in-the-wall family run Thai joint over some trendy chain any day.

My most recent amazing dining experience happened last night at Farfalla Trattoria in Los Feliz. My heart literally aches when I think about the culinary perfection that is this restaurant. For starters, the olive oil they serve with their bread has whole roasted garlic and tomatoes in it. WHOLE ROASTED GARLIC. That is all. After that, I was pretty certain that the rest of the meal awaiting me was going to be awesome.


My sister and I split the Rigatoni Ai Tre Funghi and the Pesto e Caprino pizza. We subbed out tagliolini for the rigatoni in the pasta dish because we were told that the tagliolini is made in-house, and eating house-made pasta is just what you do at Italian restaurants. 
Yes, I'm aware the noodles are paired with the sauce in a very particular way and normally I don't mess with the menu but when it comes to house-made vs. dried pasta, I have to.

Loads of mushrooms (champignons, shiitake, and porcini to be specific), creamy sauce that still has an acidic flare from the tomatoes, perfectly cooked pasta, and a healthy dose of parmesan shavings as per my sister's request. What's not to love? My one comment concerns the pasta: fresh tagliolini is typically made with egg and I have a suspicion that the pasta we were served was not made in-house as I had originally been told. However, I will overlook this minor detail because the pasta was still cooked perfectly and the dish tasted amazing regardless.

Now, for the pizza. Cheesy, cheesy, pesto-y, amazing, heaven. I love pizza, but I'm not obsessed with it. (I know there's this thing happening right now where everyone loves to talk about how obsessed they are with pizza, and they wear pizza shirts and post lots of pizza memes. We get it. You like pizza). That being said, this pizza is obsession-worthy. It's REAL pizza. Thin, crusty dough, sweet but tart tomato sauce, and an amazing harmony of mozzarella and goat cheese. Speaking of goat cheese, it's amazing. I mean, it's basically always amazing, but it was particularly amazing

on this pizza. The salty goat cheese cut through the oil of the pesto and mozzarella and created a perfect balance of flavor.The pesto actually tasted like olive oil, and make no mistake, this is a good thing. Not only is olive oil generally in my top five favorite tastes, but pesto made with olive oil is REAL pesto. No canola or vegetable oil for the pesto here at Farfalla Trattoria. 

My experience leaves me with some good and bad news. The good news: Farfalla Trattoria is a 10 minute drive from my apartment. The bad news: equipped with this information, I may soon overdose on bread and cheese. But I will die happy. And that is all that matters.