Sprezza is a large place that has been open since the end of April. It got lots of hype due to chef Julian Barsotti being the man behind the food, as he has been responsible for well regarded Nonna.  However if this is how he imagines the food of Rome to taste, he needs to visit there again. Overall it left a non-impression, as the flavors were mild in everything except the nice spicy pepper to sprinkle on your pizza. Portions are small and meant for sharing which makes it nice to have lots of bites of different things.

 

We started with the fried zucchini which was topped with pecorino (a standard for every dish). It was nicely done with a perfect crispness and not greasy. It could have benefitted from a dipping sauce to give it more taste than fried coating. The lemon which was the stated adornment was one really small slice and barely dotted most of the pieces.

 

The escarole salad was nicely fresh but more outside leaves than the stronger tasting interior ones which made it another good but mild dish.

 

The Fritto again was a nice job by the fryer and the shishitos were tasty but the dish had no wow factor even though it was fine.

 

The pizza was a very thin crisp crust with no puffy edge. The sausage has a nice spiciness and the tomatoes quite sweet, so the overall affect was good but I couldn’t help thinking it could have been so much better.

 

The traditional Roman pastas was where I was really crushed. Both shapes were odd but did hold the sauce very well.  However neither of the pastas was cooked a perfect al dente. The carbonara sauce had broken so it was more gritty than creamy goodness and it was accented with strings of onions that just felt out of place.  The Mafalda is a really weird shape that seemed more like the scraps of some other pasta than a designated shape. The bits of pancetta were quite tasty but few and far between and the red sauce made me think of a canned variety.  We chose not to order dessert.