The final day of the Taste of Hartford found my companion and me visiting Francesco’s Ristorante in Little Italy.
The restaurant proved to be much more spacious than it appeared from outside. We passed through a large handsome bar area
and an attractive dining room with private booths
before reaching yet another dining room where we were seated.
I introduced myself to the owner,
and our waitress, Renee, introduced herself to us.
Then Renee introduced us to a warm small loaf of brick-oven Italian bread
and we introduced ourselves to the flask of fruity green olive oil on our table. I always consider the bread and its accompaniment the first clear indication of how much a restaurant values its customers.
Although I had driven past Francesco’s a thousand times, I had never gotten around to visiting the restaurant. I found it quite a pleasant surprise. New York-style fried calamari tossed in an intensely flavored arrabbiata sauce was just terrific.
A Caprese salad, showcasing hand-rolled buffalo Mozzarella, nice ripe slices of summer tomato, roasted red peppers, capers and red onion in a pesto sauce, was a testament to the quality of the ingredients.
Chicken saltimbocca, one of those Italian standards I normally try to avoid, was also very tasty.
The penne D’Angelo, with fresh spinach, mushrooms and sausage in a vodka marinara cream sauce, was another winner.
Desserts also hit the mark. The cannoli was one of the best we had ever tried (and we’re not infrequent visitors to Libby’s and Lucibello’s in New Haven)
and the toasted almond was just delightful.
A complimentary glass of Muscat was the perfect finish to a lovely evening.
As we departed, I saw that other parties were enjoying themselves just as much as we had.
Francesco’s, 318 Franklin Avenue, Hartford, 860-296-3024