Le Farfalle is a large place with a huge bar area and outdoor patio also. They serve Italian food in a very southern city which is a challenge and novelty. The main dining area has good table separation with a combination of tables and booths, high ceilings and friendly, helpful service. As an option to ordering bottles of wine they sell house wines by the carafe and half carafe. Overall the food is nice and very acceptable but not overwhelming. The options for dessert were really limited as the pastry chef did not come on duty till 2:00 so your only option for lunch is a cookie plate or a sweet potato “something” – neither of which was appealing.
We started with the Cocktail of the Day called a Gold Rush. It was made with bourbon, lemon and honey and was very nice, but watch your bill cause it was listed at $8 but rang up as $10. No problem but it looked like there are still kinks to work out here.
We started with the Chicken Liver Mousse served with quince marmalade, chicken cracklings and pickled shallots. A warm crusty and nicely doughy bread is alongside. The mousse was amazingly good and the bread fantastic.
We each had an Insalata Misticanza which was mixed greens, hazelnuts, parmesan and a white balsamic vinaigrette. It was very lightly dressed with lots of shaved bits of cheese. There were a few brown edges on the lettuces but it tasted fresh and crisp. The nuts added a nice texture and flavor.
The Agnolotti was stuffed with duck confit and plated with mushrooms and parmesan. It was a tad salty but not offensively so. The duck was finely minced as opposed to strings and was packed into the pasta. The mushrooms were very tasty but I’d call the dish nice, not outstanding.
The Rigatoni Verdi was a green pasta with bolognese sauce. The sauce was not velvety like a long cooked bolognese but tasty. The meat in the sauce was in lumps rather than smooth but the pasta was cooked perfectly. Another nice but not outstanding dish.
The waiter was nice enough to comp an espresso for each of us because of the mis-charge on the bill.
