Sopra Sotto - Commercial Drive

I am so Instagram driven these days. As a result, ever since I first saw Sopra Sotto pics, I have wanted to sample their fresh pasta and wood burning oven pizza.

We arrived unfashionably early on Saturday at lunch time and had the place to ourselves for a few minutes. And it is a beautiful place!

Prominent in the open part of the kitchen is the wood burning oven in which they would bake a perfect Margherita Pizza for us. It was possibly the best that I have ever had!

Their pizza dough is prepared 2 days in advance to allow the yeast time to complete its 'full growth cycle' and the result is evident.  The crust had a pleasant chew with those wonderful char bits as a result of the blazing hot pizza oven. The toppings, San Marzano tomatoes (no less!), mozzarella, Grana and basil, were in generous but perfect proportion. This was a spectacular pizza.

We had started with a lovely Toscano Salad of kale, faro, roasted tomatoes and pecorino. The salad was dressed by someone with excellent self-control and not drowned as I have a tendency to do! The pecorino added a perfect note to this healthy plate.

We are huge fans of house-made fresh pasta. We shared Chitarrine al Ragu. This is a square spaghetti that I had never heard of but it stood up well to the ragu. There was a bit of chew to this pasta which was perfect. The Bolognaise itself was subtle and tasty and the whole thing was rounded out by Parmigiana. Wonderful!

I would have loved having room for Tiramisu but that will have to wait for next time. In the meantime, this was a very nice experience. Our server was friendly and efficient but just enough! My new favorite restaurant?