I hate to rain on the recent parade of great reviews for Pasta Freska (especially after just one visit) but if last night's dinner was any indication, this restaurant's selling point is the owner's charm, not the food.
And Mike is charming, no doubt about it. He sits down at your table, chats about your dining preferences, and brings over glasses of wine at the slightest provocation.
After that promising start, our meal went downhill. Yes there was plenty of food -- a thin slice of eggplant swimming in a basic tomato sauce, a bland seafood linguine swimming in cream, and a tough chicken roulade overstuffed with ricotta -- but none of it approached the transcendent experience described by previous reviewers, and most dishes could best be described as 'adequate'.
It may be unfair, but our table's interpretation of the Pasta Freska format is that Mike (or rather, the cook behind the wall) makes whatever food he feels like making, all of it prepared in quantity ahead of time, and then makes an elaborate show of asking your preferences before serving you whatever he has in the kitchen. This makes for good theater, but -- at these prices -- a disappointing dining experience.
I hope our experience wasn't representative, but I'll think twice before visiting Pasta Freska again.
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