Osteria Enoteca Ai Artisti is a small cozy 2 rooms with some outdoor seating. Tables are small and close, covered with paper and paper napkins. The entry room contains a good sized bar with a pass through window to the small kitchen. The second room contains wine storage and a larger table for big groups. Since it is a wine bar, serving afternoon cicchetti, the wine selection is expectedly nice. For meals it looks like reservations are a must as seating is limited and the food is really good. Ceilings are low, soft music plays in the background and staff is extremely helpful, speaking good English. Servings are generous and the place has a great vibe. The chef is Mashiro Homma who has spent 8 years in Italy with the last 5 being in Venice.
We started by splitting an oder of the Clams and mussels sautéed with ginger and coriander and served in a magnificent broth of clam water and tomato sauce. Both shellfish are perfectly cooked and good tasting but the spicy broth is the star here. The full flavor pleasantly lingers on the tongue and throat. It took everything I had to not mop up every bit of it with the nice bread.
The spaghetti with scallops was spicy with pepper and mixed with garlic, greens and tomatoes. It is really nice and quite flavorful.
The Tortellini is stuffed with anchovy and Roquefort and surrounded by pea cream. The pasta was slightly tough but the filling was a lovely mix of the two ingredients and the sauce very nice. The gorgonzola was a perfect opponent for the anchovy – buffering both strong tastes into a pleasant one in the middle. The bright green sauce with the light pasta and assorted greens made a really pretty dish which was also good tasting.
The thinly sliced tuna steak was served nicely rare with tomatoes, Romano beans, haricot vert, a slice of green hot pepper, olive and anise. The tuna was beef steak-like and wonderfully enhance with the sauces. You don’t need any extra vegetable sides with this nice plate.
The Turbot is baked and served with a sour cream and artichoke sauces. Accompanying it on the plate were asparagus, edamame beans, green beans and radicchio. The turbot is cooked perfectly and the bit of mint and fennel in the sour cream sauce blend quite well with it. A very tasty and nice plate. Unfortunately we were totally stuffed and had no room for dessert.
