Feed Me Now! Cucina Urbana

Cucina Urbana

Location: Banker's Hill

Prices: Inexpensive to moderate - there is nothing over $20 on the menu, but you will probably order quite a few items

Good for: Gorging yourself with the most delicious modern Italian dishes you can even imagine

Pros: Everything except dessert

Cons: Dessert

Ratings and Recommendations:

9/10 - Mini rosemary potato focaccia loaf with sundried tomato dipping oil - carbs with oil? Yes, please. Delicious.


10/10 - Goat cheese mousse with apricot-chili marmelata and Tuscan toast - this was heaven in a little mason jar... the texture of the goat cheese mousse was light and airy, but it still had the tart punch of a tangy goat cheese, which was perfectly balanced by the zesty sweet marmalata topper.


10++/10 - Ricotta gnocchi with sage brown butter, parmesan, and amaretti - these treats were pillowy deliciousness beyond compare... the texture was so soft and creamy, with no hint of the toughness common in over-worked gnocchi. The slight crunch of the amaretti and crispy sage contrasted with the rich nuttiness of the browned butter and parmesan. Seriously, this was a perfectly crafted, stupendous dish.


8/10 - Caprese with burrata, prosciutto, heirloom tomato, arugula, basil, and balsamic drizzle - this was delicious but a little too light on the burrata (which was delicious, fresh, and creamy, but could have used a teensy pinch of salt).


8/10 - Mission fig pizza with caramelized onion, candied pecans, gorgonzola, and aged balsamic - simple, flavorful, and very tasty, with a thin crisp crust and big tender slices of fig.


10/10 - Goat cheese and lemon ravioli with corn puree, spring onion, and pistachio - a ravishingly tasty dish! The corn puree sounded like an odd choice to accompany ravioli, but it was perfection... the pasta and flavors were so fresh and light but savory, and each element complemented the others so well that I think a culinary genius must have put this dish together.


10/10 - Socialite cocktail of limoncello, vodka, and vanilla bean syrup - this was so good that I am attempting to recreate it at home... so far, my attempts to recreate the original have failed miserably, even though it sounds so easy! One of my dining companions described it as a drinkable version of the lemon pound cake from Costco... all I know is that it was DELICIOUS!

1/10 - Panna cotta with some fruit and junk on it - weirdly fizzy in the mouth... another of my astute dining companions compared it to Pop Rocks with fruit. It was just weird. The 4 of us did not even finish either dessert, which is unheard of in our circle.

2/10 - Roasted peaches with brown gelato, mascarpone cream, crumbled up cookie things, and some other random stuff - meh, they were good, juicy peaches but the cream tasted like bacon and the cookie things were like odd granola. I have no idea what the gelato flavor was supposed to be, but it was a strange brown color... though it was reasonably tasty.

Notes: OMG this just may be my new holy grail of restaurants. I have actually had a dream about the gnocchi.

The desserts were honestly a terrible way to end a fantabulous meal, so next time I might just focus on the real goods - the savory deliciousness of the first few courses and cocktails. After we ever-so-sweetly told the server our desserts were nahs-tay, she suggested the strawberry dessert for next time. We'll see. I would much rather have another order of that sweet ass gnocchi than risk another icky dessert.