Luca Awards

Luca Restaurant Review:

Owner-chef Frank Bonanno and his right-hand culinary cohort, Eric Cimino, have a hit on their hands with Luca, an Italian-inspired restaurant that forgoes red sauce in favor of sophisticated flavor combinations. The cozy dining room, outfitted with aluminum chairs, caramel-hued walls, bold artwork and a small, hammered-aluminum bar, is contemporary and cool. The seasonally-inspired menu changes monthly to reflect the chef’s moods and whims, but you can always count on house-made pastas and cheeses, house-cured meats, and fresh-from-the-sea fish and seafood. Start with a salumi plate teeming with soppressata, capocollo and Parma prosciutto, followed by Sicilian calamari awash in an aromatic, herb-studded tomato sauce pelted with capers and crushed Calabrian chilies. Handmade pastas include the capellini carbonara with smoked pancetta, a pappardelle Bolognese, and ricotta cavatelli matched with a braised rabbit ragù. Main dishes, such as the duck two ways and diver scallops paired with butternut squash ravioli and sea beans and cauliflower purée, are equally notable. The wine list pulls from small producers, and while bargains are few and far between, the roster is extremely food-friendly.