Getting Raz to go out for Italian with me is on par with calculating the airborne velocity of an unladen swallow in one's head,  factoring in drag coefficient, and varying wind speeds.  It's not impossible,  but it doesn't happen often.  The issue is carbs. Pasta is full of carbs,  most Italian restaurant menus are pasta-heavy,  and for Raz the pleasure of eating pasta usually isn't worth the caloric trade-off. Hence my surprise when I announced my ravenous appetite,  and Raz actually picked M'tucci's from the available options. 

We hadn't been in before,  and I was too hungry to take the time for reading reviews before we pulled in. Being pleasantly sated now,  we will go back to agree with the positive ones. The first thing that struck us was the brevity of the pasta list in relation to salad,  soup,  appetizer,  veg,  and other varieties of dishes. Raz immediately picked out the Farro & Beet Salad,  then talked himself into the Potato Leek Bisque, me into the Sauteed Spinach and Garlic, and us both into the Grigliata Mista. To this,  I added the Pappardelle alla Crema di Porcini because I do love pasta every chance I get. 

We would rate the experience 6 stars if we could,  because every single bite was amazing. The absolute winners of the meal,  though,  were the creamy, savory, Potato Leek Bisque,  and the Pappardelle alla Crema di Porcini. 

I've made and ordered potato leek soup lot of ways,  but hands-down this bisque was the most perfect bowl of the soup I've ever tried. Oh,  wait,  that was only the "cup" we ordered, though the portion was large enough that it would have filled my belly completely on any regular afternoon were it my order. 

I had to make a point of asking whether the pappardelle was made in-house, because the rustic, hearty quality of the pasta gave a mouth-feel I haven't experienced since the last time I spent an afternoon making egg-noodles by hand with my grandmother. It turns out this particular pasta is not made in-house yet,  but sourced from Italy where it is made by hand. The care and quality really show. It also doesn't hurt that I've never experienced anything quite like the crema di porcini tossed with the noodles. The "sauce" isn't really saucy, but bite-sized portions of chicken and porcini in a light, creamy glaze tossed generously with the pasta. It was all I could do to suppress tears of joy with every bite. 

Overall the portions were just right, filling without bursting us at the seams, and since I started out ravenous, we had room for dessert. Raz has some food restrictions (like not being able to have anything made with alcohol that isn't completely cooked off).  Thus, we asked before ordering the tiramisu. Tana, our server, knew her dishes, and was able to steer us to the Semifreddo and Affocato instead. While these aren't anything like tiramisu, we were incredibly pleased by the unique desserts. 

I want to end with a giant thanks to M'tucci's, because you have made it much easier for me to feed my future cravings for Italian food!