I made a reservation at this restaurant a month ahead of time to get in! Was it worth it?
Yes. The food and the atmosphere at Lucia are both delicious.
You know I’m not a reviewer but I really enjoy finding a little place that serves wonderful food. I go to a lot of restaurants and I have a handful that I would go back to time after time because the meal was so good. Lucia is one of those.
Lucia is a tiny place in the heart of the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff. Inside, it’s warm and inviting. Every table has a view of the charming open kitchen.
The meal begins with a little bowl of warm olives and some of the best bread I’ve eaten in a long time.
The menu is divided into four courses: antipasti (starter), primi (pasta), secondi (entree) and dolce (dessert).
Our antipasti included salumi misti (a tasting of house-made cured meats)
I ordered the “Crostini with peas, ricotta, pickled garlic scapes, and spicy cod bottarga” because I saw that it was sprinkled with “bottarga”, a condiment I fell in love with when I visited Sardinia.
Three different hand made pastas for our primi course were all delicious.
I could eat the veal ragu, with a spoon, alone. Each pasta could be ordered in a larger size as a main course.
The duck breast was outstanding. My “Ocean Trout with peas, bacon, spring onions and cream” was a perfect spring combination.
I’ve been to a lot of Italian restaurants where the dessert wasn’t nearly as good as the rest of the meal. I would go back to Lucia for the dolce alone.
I had a “Breadcrumb semifreddo with bittersweet chocolate boudino and olive oil” that was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. A semifreddo is a little like an ice cream cake!
A sample menu can be seen at this link Lucia. The items on the menu will probably be a little different when you go as they change with what’s fresh and available.
And you should go, if you love good food as much as I do!
Enjoy,
My 1st Under grad. experience (There have been many) was in a remote place that had many residents from ‘the old country.’ The late night study always brought thoughts of forays to that part of town which produced the best Pastrami sandwiches. The mustard, the onions, the 6″ homemade buns stacked with layer after layer of hot pastrami still fetches flashbacks… “to a galaxy far, far away.” It was that bread (buns) baked with recipes from Italy that still makes me check the schedules for travel. Ma Ma Mia!!!!!
My love affair with Italian food followed up and down the East Coast and inland to the Mississippi River. Unmatched by anything I have found in DFW. One never orders from the menu. Always ask the wait staff for the daily specials. They rattle them off with the speed that says ‘this is not their 1st job doing this.’ They talk fast and the really attuned ear listens fast to get the uncommon and Old Family recipes.
I once dined at one such place for a year and never suspected that they had a private club ‘By Invitation Only.’ Jimmie Colombo was the name on the sign and the man at the register. Nothing happened w/o Jimmie’s consent. The head nod was almost in-perceivable but any one who wanted to know anything looked Jimmie’s way and he approved or disapproved by lack of any expression. The Rigatoni, the Sausage and Peppers or just Pizza for the casual visitor, it all met Jimmie’s gaze.
One night he asked if i had visited his ‘Club.’ I had not. One look at the Head Waiter, a one side nod and and like acknowledgement and I was in. (The Head Waiter later became the Mayor of the mid sized town.) Why Now? i happened to mention my boss and Jimmie knew him from Church. Maybe he asked. i never knew. i just knew it was quite gesture.
But, I’ll never forget my first Hot Pastrami on real in-house baked 6″ buns made just like in The Old Country. Let me check those plane schedules.