Osteria La Chitarra is a small place with about 9 tables. Wood beams cross the ceiling and were topped with Christmas or non-seasonal decorative items. Music was in the background and lighting was lowered. The bare wood pedestal tables were set with placemats and large paper napkins. The menu is all a la carte and wine is available in bottles and also by liter or portion thereof. We bought a pitcher of the house wine and it was very drinkable. Service was provided by the wife of the chef/owner and she was friendly and efficient. The chef, Giuseppe Maiorano did come out and visit with a few friends but did not make the rounds of the room, perhaps he only spoke Italian. This is a place of home cooking at its best.
Bread service was a basket of thickly sliced sourdough bread with a good crust and lighter interior.
We started with the recommended Anitpasta appetizer for two people. It contained salami, cheese, carrots with vinegar, omelette with onions, provolette bread meatballs and vegetables. It was huge. The warm cabbage was very good. The cheese balls reminded me of ‘fried cheese curds’ but they were filled with mild smoked cheese. The sausage was really good as was the wedge of plain cheese. the omelette was great – like a frittata. The carrots were in an herby vinegar and were good.
Zuppa di Fagioli was bean soup with tomato, celery, oregano and fried bread. It was excellent. It was accented with a couple well cooked cherry tomatoes and wonderful chunks of fried bread. A great dish of textures with tons of flavor. The beans were perfectly cooked. It was better than the other starter, pasta.
Ziti Allardiati was pasta with tomatoes, chunks of pancetta and pecorino cheese. The perfectly cooked pasta adhered to the sauce nicely. It was a tasty sauce with bits of ham to accent it.
Polpette alla Napoletana were Beef meatballs with raisins and pinenuts cooked in tomato sauce. We split the order of 2 meatballs. It was a finely ground meat with nuts, olives and raisins in the center. It was a very tender meatball with a generous topping of sauce.
Scarole was a side dish of escarole. It was cooked nicely with an olive garnish. It was a good side green, not at all bitter.
Torta al Limoncello was a cake with ricotta and limoncello and made by the chef’s wife. It was served warm and was a moist, spongy cake filled with a creamy layer and topped with crumbles of sugar. It was very good.
We enjoyed a glass of grappa to finish the meal.
