Italian food is the cuisine of the moment in Charleston.
New destinations stretch from West Ashley to Hanahan and Summerville, each offering a different take on this ubiquitous cuisine. With so many fresh options, diners should have no problem finding a place to dine on National Pasta Day.
Here are five restaurants to consider on Oct. 17 and beyond.
Allora
Since Allora opened Oct. 1, diners have flocked to its multi-tiered rooftop, equipped with a bar and seating for about 20. There, and in the downstairs main dining room, bar area and lounge, patrons can order from an extensive menu that includes seven types of hand-made noodles, as well as four different crudos, daily specials, fresh meat and cheese, tinned seafood and main entrees composed with fish, pork and steak. Sharing is encouraged, and the food arrives as it’s ready.
Cane Pazzo
Cane Pazzo, located in a strip center between North Charleston and Goose Creek, might not be on diners’ radars as much as other Italian newcomers. But it should be. The food owner Mark Bolchoz is cooking in his first independent venture has personality, nuance and plenty of intrigue, with vegetables and heritage meats shining just as bright as the hand-rolled pastas, that rotate with the seasons.
The agnolotti stole the show during a visit for an August restaurant review, but this month, I’ve got my eye on the bucatini with pancetta, Raven Farms mushrooms and whipped taleggio cheese.
Legami
Legami, located on Upper King Street, opened this time last year with a handful of rotating pastas. Staples on the menu include reimagined Italian classics like the tagliolini, draped in luxurious hunks of King crab. Twirl the thin, ribboned noodles to find tender mussels, freed from their shell to soak up the tomato-based pomodoro sauce, with an essence of the sea that is amplified by fresh-made shellfish stock.
Order this for yourself and steal a taste of your dining companion’s pappardelle al ragu, the flat noodles concealing braised oxtail. The meat, which eats like a more robust short rib, can find a fitting match in Legami’s long list of well-selected California and Italian red wines.
Pelato
Pelato brings a different type of Italian restaurant to the Charleston area, one where appetizers and plates of pasta are meant to be shared. You won’t find the traditional structure of antipasti, secondi and primi of dining establishments in Italy, but the portions are similarly sized, which the owners say promotes a shareable dining experience.
Pastas — there are six of them — are for many tables the main event. My favorite is the radiatori vodka, Pelato’s version of penne alla vodka that features small, squat noodles with ruffled edges tossed in a sauce of tomato, cream and a touch of Calabrian chili.
Volpe
Diners who visit Ken Vedrinski’s new downtown Charleston restaurant can opt in to a family-style meal featuring multiple small appetizers, one pasta, a fish and meat course, and dessert. The menu changes weekly, so it’s difficult to predict which noodle dish the Coda Del Pesce chef will serve on a given night.
During one meal for a recent restaurant review, I tucked into a bowl of paccheri enveloped in a hearty bolognese, Vedrinski’s red sauce nod to traditional Italian-American cuisine. A rich ragu curled inside the tubular noodles, whose tender chew reminded me of ones I tried in Italy. It was simple but oh so satisfying.
Dining and Cooking