Agrodolce Osteria — Restaurant in Berkeley

This is the kind of Sicilian magic that only happens when you have someone's mom or grandma involved in the production or recipes, and a staff that is well treated, and experienced at what they do. I had been wanting to dine here for a while, but as I travel often I didn't have the time. I was happy to see that they were open on a Tuesday.

As I often do when eating at a place for the first time, I will ask the staff to order for me.

It was recommended that I start with the bruschetta pomodoro, a really special garlic crostini, and crushed tomatoes with ricotta, garlic, oregano and fresh basil with whatever olive oil it is they're using, and whatever it, is it knocked my socks off. There were so many flavors, savory, tangy, sweet, unctuous, and all balanced out in a bed of fresh arugula.

A few minutes before that a plate of acme bread, and "Olio Della mama", which is quite possibly one of the greatest olive oil melanges I have ever tasted. Finely diced garlic, peppers, herbs, and other secret stuff, which had obviously been sitting for a little while in this spectacular olive oil, and the combination, elevated this simple side dish to superstar status. I was told they sell it by the bottle but I was having such a good time. I forgot to get one.

My main course was Scottaditto D'Angello, ("burned angel fingers" some things just don't translate well. Lol) Roman styled Barolo marinated lamb chops cooked on a charcoal grill and served with garlic, chili, sea salt, Bagnomaria, (which I am assuming means they cooked this rangefed lamb Sous Vide, And then reverse seared it on the grill) It was served in a bed of organic spinach with some garlic rosemary potatoes. The dish is simply spectacular. Peppery, perfectly tender and chewy. Just a very perfect and very famous Italian meat dish done very well.

During the course of the night being the wine novice that I am, I also asked for recommendations on wine, My first glass being the Monte Antico 2018 (Old mountain), a strong Tuscan red, that mellowed considerably when I let it sit for a couple of minutes and as I am a rookie in the wine game, I will refrain from trying to come up with something clever to say about it. It other than it became lighter after it breathed and was the perfect setup for my second glass of wine which was the Governor ail'uso Toscano, and this apparently was the perfect wine to match the strong flavors of the lamb and rosemary potatoes.

They do a first rate tiramisu here, which I couldn't finish, (Hope the chef wasn't offended), and had a glass of Montenegro, at the advice of a fellow diner, an apertif that is popular, I am told but I'm not sure how I feel about it. It reminded me of Drambuie, with the taste of burnt orange and herbs in it. I'll come back to that later and decide whether I like it another time.

The staff was super friendly and knowledgeable, and this place where I used to go when I was very young with my godfather father when it was an Italian place (Il Pavone, which had plants, grasses, and flowers planted all over the restaurant, including a waterfall, ferns, palms and little trees in the 70's) and later became a Polish restaurant (The Warsaza) then became Cafe gratitude, Is an environment that I love. Brick walls, dark and cool, and generally quiet.

Between this restaurant and a couple of others in the East Bay, I'm coming to love Italian and Sicilian cuisine again for the first time in 40 years. One of the things I like best about this place is that everyone there from the bartender to the owner are all genuinely friendly people. You can feel the Sicilian warmth the minute you walk in the door.

I highly recommend this place to people who are looking for fresh, sometimes novel yet traditional, authentic Sicilian and Italian food crratrd by a family that has kept their traditions, and their cooking skills sharp as the knives in the kitchen.

The East Bay is all the better...

Where do I begin? I should preface this by saying that we were looking for the original Sicilian spot owned by the family, but unfortunately, that spot had closed down since the pandemic. Google had incorrect information, but it led us here instead. This location for Trattoria la Siciliana is marked on the same address as Agrodolce, but again, it has since closed down. Agrodolce is owned by the same family.

We are not experts in Italian nor Sicilian cuisine. We are humble college students, and my boyfriend wanted to take me out on a fancy dinner date before I left the Bay Area.

We ordered the appetizer recommended by our server (Frittura Mista). It was basically a fried hodgepodge of artichokes, calamari, and prawns. It was pretty good and had a surprising depth for a fried dish. The sauce on the side + lemon gave it a nice refreshing punch.

For our main dishes, he ordered the RAGÙ DI MAIALE and I got the LINGUINI CON VONGOLE IN BIANCO. Those are Italian names for big wide pasta noodles with slow braised pork stuff and linguini pasta with clams. I tried his ragu; it was very soft, came apart at the pinprick of my fork. The meat was very melt-in-mouth, with enough acidity to keep the heartiness of the pork at bay. My boyfriend commented that it was the right proportion of food, and not too heavy.

My linguini pasta with clams was surprisingly generous with clams! The clams and pasta were incorporated well. Little tomato bits here and there gave the dish some brightness, and the clams did not taste old or fishy. They were full of umami, and sea breezy freshness. Very light, but filling!

However, the magnus opus was the dessert. The cannoli was phenomenal; the outside roll was crunchy and satisfying, a little bit like a cookie, but not quite. It was very structurally sound, able to hold the cream inside. The cream was witchcraft; Agrodolce must know angels, because it was light and fluffy, like a cloud, with just enough sweetness and tartness. I was licking it off my fingers.

The tiramisu was also superb. If the cannoli cream was like a cloud, the tiramisu was like eating chocolate, coffee covered heaven clouds. Angelic, yet it felt like sinful sex in my mouth. I have no other way to describe it. Absolutely perfect mouthfeel. I was smiling as I finished my meal.

The head chef/owner is also a really cool character, and added to the vibe of this being a family establishment. Also, a cute fiat is parked out front, great for instagram photo ops. :) If you're a student and you want to reward yourself with an amazing meal, this is the...

I’m giving them a 3 but last night was more like a 2, maybe a 1. Hostess was nice.

First off, they used box pasta, and Barilla of all types. Not for every dish, but quite a bit. I saw the kitchen.

Next, the seating situation was bad from the jump, sitting walk-ins before reservations, but that was what it was. That was followed up by having a number of tables on the sidewalk and half the heaters didn’t work so it was very cold.

When we finally were seated we ordered all of our dishes at once out of fear they were too crowded and we’d never get our food, and the server was pressing us for our whole order. We were then brought our appetizer and soup at same time, so we had to decide what to eat first as the sitting item would surely get cold (everything did). So we were racing. Before we were done eating soup they brought the mains, and tried to take our unfinished soup because there wasn't room on the small table. We crammed everything onto the small table, and now the mains were becoming colder by the second because of the weather.

I decided to get The ‘famous Ragu’ and it doesn’t do well cold as all the noodles bind together. Plus you can’t really see the bones if eating outside because the lighting was bad. The dish was underwhelming warm or cold, but it was cold, so who knows.

Server then offered us ‘a wonderful glass of Sangiovese on the house’ because he at least recognized this. And even though we didn't want more to drink and were nearly done with our meals, we accepted. By the time the Sangiovese arrived we were done, except it wasn't that... it was house Cabernet, which we both found to be borderline un-drinkable swill-level wine; not Sangiovese which we love.

They don’t have the kitchen capacity to double their dining room which is what they’re trying to do with the outside area, and we suffered because of it. I don’t doubt you can have a great meal there on a different night. But for the wife and I, our first night out together in almost two years, it was a bad experience all around. Don’t go on a weekend is my advice and order the food as it comes,...