Mamma Teresa Ristorante

Description:

• There was a real Mamma Teresa. Her son carries on her tradition in this handsome late-19th-century stone house, which the restaurant has occupied since 1984 (and it opened 15 years earlier than that). The two floors require separate kitchens, since up to 325 meals are served nightly; patrons are more likely to depart with boxed leftovers than to finish one of these huge platters of pasta. Most of the pastas are made on premises, including lasagna, linguini, ravioli, pappardelle, and gnocchi. They arrive firm to the tooth and dressed in up to 30 different sauces. Special pride is taken in the penne Mamma Teresa, a rich, earthy Bolognese sauce thick with porcini mushrooms. If you order the big antipasti plate for two, though, a pasta course may not be necessary -- it contains grilled shrimp, crispy calamari, scallops, prosciutto with chunks of Parmesan, olives, and pickled hot peppers. Specific wines are suggested for each dish, and be sure to ask for the house-roasted bread to be brought to your table. Dessert? The zabaglione is lighter than air, a cake that shouldn't be skipped.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010