Radici Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in City of Glens Falls

I had dinner at Radici for the first time last night. I sat at the bar, which is always my preferred location and they have a WONDERFUL bar. The place isn't large (which is perfect, IMO). Lovely, intimate setting, big, roomy, comfortable bar seatings exposed brick walls, high ceilings and open kitchen concept. So from the bar you can watch everything that is happening in the kitchen. Radici is owned by a husband and wife chef team and they were in the kitchen cooking last night. I try to only support independently owned/operated restaurants and especially chef-owned. THAT is the business model we NEED in the restaurant industry. The staff at Radici was pretty fantastic. Friendly, attentive, WONDERFULLY upbeat.

I am giving 4 stars instead of 5 because it was a bit challenging to order off the menu as someone who doesn't eat beef, pork or poultry. Not everything I ate was a 5. Also? The vibe coming from the kitchen wasn't good. No one looked like they were having fun. Which is rough. And, I own my own restaurant and I am the cook. So I'm not just talking. The vibe in my kitchen is ALWAYS fun and entirely controlled by ME. Some people might not notice. Since I do this myself I was perhaps a bit over sensitive to it. But yikes...

The menu isn't huge and it was a bit limited if you don't eat meat (I don't eat beef, pork or poultry). I don't think there were any vegan options (maybe a salad??) and not sure there were even vegetarian options. But! There is a possibility to ask for a vegetarian option on pastas at least. I eat seafood and there were plenty of seafood options. But most also contained pork or something else that is "off my list."

I do think it is a bit "short sighted" these days to not have at least a couple legit vegetarian options on your menu...

They make their own pasta in house. And it is GOOD.

I ordered from the Snacks, Small Plates, Salad and Pasta sections of the menu (there is also a Mains, but I don't think there was anything there I could eat).

From the Snacks I had the buttermilk fried oysters with caviar, chives and remoulade. They were delicious. Light and crispy, with a tasty sauce/seasoning.

From the Small Plates I ordered Cacio e Pepe with a poached egg because I was literally incapable of NOT ordering Cacio e Pepe once I saw it on the menu! The housemade spaghetti was very good. Cacio e Pepe is a simple dish, but also not simple. It can be tricky to execute. This was good, but lacked some seasoning (more pepper...) and was wet. That is sort of the "trick" to Cacio e Pepe, there shouldn't be the water still in the plate.The poached egg is a perfect addition to this dish.

From Salads I ordered the Caesar because I LOVE a Caesar salad and it really has to be the most often poorly executed salad served in restaurants. So, for me, a Caesar salad is a "test" order. Radici's Caesar is excellent. They've added garlic breadcrumbs which are extremely flavorful and add a fun crunch to the salad. The Romaine was delightfully crunchy and chopped so you could easily eat it (LOL - but that's a thing!). My only quibble is putting whole anchovies on the salad. I, personally, love anchovies. But entire anchovies are a bit much..

HOWEVER. The REASON to come to Radici is the Gnocchi!

I am low key on a lifelong quest to find gnocchi as good, as light and fluffy, as the gnocchi of my childhood...

Wow.

These gnocchi are PERFECTION.

From their Pastas:

Housemade Ricotta Gnocchi. Usually served with Bolognese. But I asked if I could get their Marinara (I don't eat meat).

On the topic of Marinara: I will judge ANY establishment, that serves it, on the quality of their Marinara. 99.9999% fail. Miserably. Marinara should be so good you can eat it alone. And that is dependent upon the quality of your tomatoes and your gentle handling of them.

I would eat THIS Marinara alone. It is a STAND OUT.

Perfection my friends. If you come this way have...

I had dinner last night and I was reminded just how much I missed Chef Brian's food! We started with two featured apps: little-neck clams in beer, and the heirloom carrots and also had to try the yellowfin crudo. The clams were amazingly delicate and tender and I almost filled up on the broth soaked crostini. The carrots were to die for over their bed of romesco with a fragrant basil pesto and other playful accoutrements. The crudo was perfect with blood orange segments, pickled fennel, tiny potato chips and spicy calabrian chiles.

We proceeded to the second course and split a simple green salad and the baby beets, both of which were divine. We could have stopped there and been super content with an espresso and a dessert to split but we soldiered on to course three.

Our eyes perhaps too big for our tummys , we ordered the halibut and the braised veal cheek pappardelle and the heritage pork chop feature. OMGsh These three dishes were simply amazing. As a previous reviewer pointed out, the pork could be fork cut as it was perfectly cooked and super tender. The parm polenta and the saucy peppers were perfect accompaniments. The halibut literally could not have been better. Under the perfect sear, the fish was delicate and moist and sparkling with flavor. It was topped with dime-sized disks of pickled kumquats and nested in fresh wilted baby spinach. The pasta, well it was so good that my dinner partner fixated on this dish alone and left the other two to me! Over the fresh, wide, ribbons of macaroni were two braised veal cheeks. They were deliciously ethereal and bursting with flavor, simply served with caramelized onions and a delicate porcini jus. Needles to say, I hope, I had a bunch to take home with me.

As if we needed or could handle any more food, we were served a couple of zeppoli, with a creme brulee and a salted caramel boudino! The first two desserts were fantastic, but the budino put me over the edge. An initial salty, crumbly, sparkle was followed by complex and layered sweetness. I crushed it! Thank the Gods for inventing espresso because that's all I could fit at the end.

Our server Taylor was perfect. She was knowledgeable, attentive and fun and truly added to the night's delight. Well...

We had another excellent meal here recently! As always, the food was well-prepared and highlighted by imaginative presentation, sauces, and seasonings that we tend only to find at this place.

My husband‘s appetizer, the Caesars salad is always his favorite and he devoured it. He described it as just the right amount of a perfectly rendered Caesar dressing with fresh, seemingly just picked lettuce leaves, white anchovies, and a dusting of crushed croutons for a nice crunch.

My goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms were mind-blowing! A crisp, puffy tempura batter suspending blossoms filled with oozing cheese and attendant fresh herbs, cradled in a bit of pungent vinegar-based reduction for contrast.

My husband‘s surf and turf was adorned with a freshly made chimichurri sauce and topped with three large Cajun shrimp. The steak was perfectly cooked Pittsburgh medium-rare as requested. The seasoned asparagus was thick and delicious, as were the fingerling potatoes that accompanied it.

My lump crab risotto was a springtime symphony of green herbs and a generous showering of fresh white lump crab on top of a bowl of creamy risotto.

After a meal like this, we normally don’t indulge in desserts, but the sweet fare at Radici is so tempting, we couldn’t resist the light-as-air ricotta donuts…who CAN?!

The service was attentive and very friendly, and the owners are always mingling with guests, which is a rare and comforting sight these days. Another Five Star...