Warm lighting and friendly conversations fill up Numero 28.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
A soft yellow light spills out from the large glass windows at Numero 28 Pizzeria and Vineria, Bastrop’s new Italian restaurant at 1006 Main Street.
Local musician Blake Torrey Wetsel and his friend Julie Anne Robinson had opted for an outside table for their visit. “Every time I drove by here, people were waiting outside to get in,” Wetsel said. “People I work with in Buda and other nearby neighbors and friends have talked about Numero 28. I haven’t been to restaurants all over the world like Julie has, but this dish just tastes amazing.”
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Wetsel and Robinson were sharing a pappardelle bolognese, a ribbon-pasta in savory meat sauce, and a gnocchi al pesto, a homemade gnocchi pasta with pesto sauce and sun-dried tomatoes. “It’s the best Italian food I’ve had in a long time,” Wetsel said. Robinson said she also enjoys eating at the Austin Numero 28.
Numero 28 Bastrop joins its sister Numero 28 restaurant on Austin’s W. Second Street, which opened in 2014. The brand originated with two brothers in New York City, where it currently has six restaurants of the same name and similar fare. The name comes from part of its original New York street address.
Focus on southern Italian
Marco Borghi, one of several partners in the Bastrop and Austin restaurants, explained the fare served at Numero 28. There are about 20 regions from north to south in Italy, he said, with Numero 28 having specialties from all but with an emphasis on the south.
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The luscious lasagna bolognese at Numero 28.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
“We are recipe-driven. I don’t need someone to come and tell me how to make a lasagna from Bologna. In Bologna they make lasagna a certain way, with the ground beef, bechamel and parmesan cheese on top,” Borghi said. “You do 10 layers of it and then you bake it. These are traditional recipes, we didn’t event them. This is everyday food in Italy. From the president of Italy to the janitor, we ‘eat our menu’ every day.”
Borghi explained the main differences between northern and southern Italian cuisine.
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“There’s more of a richer cuisine up north, heavier on creams and butter, with less tomatoes. The south is about the tomatoes, fresh herbs and a lot of seafood, because we have water all around there. We don’t have a lot of cattle in southern Italy.”
Numero 28 is primarily a pizzeria, Borghi said, and the pastas are made fresh in-house.
The menu offers eight pasta dishes and five main entrees, plus an array of appetizers and salads. Seven red-sauce and six white (no tomato sauce) pizzas are offered, including a vegetarian choice. Both red and white categories come in 12- and 18-inch size. Gluten-free pizza is available only in a 12-inch size.
A Capricciosa pizza (red sauce) was being lavishly enjoyed by one couple with prosciutto di parma, mozzarella, tomato sauce topped with arugula and shaved parmesan.
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Multiple wines
Fifteen red wines representing multiple regions will delight wine aficionados. The reds include Barbera d’Asti and Barolo from the Piedmont region, Brunello from Tuscany, and a Nero d’Avola from Sicily. Only two of the reds are offered in either glass or half-carafe size (375 ml.), so a partner or more might be the best call if a full bottle is ordered. White wines include the grape varietals pinot grigio, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and vermentino. Non-alcoholic drinks and espresso/coffee are also offered.
Marco Borghi is one of the partners in Bastrop’s Numero 28.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
“Italy, along with France, (rotate as) the largest producers of wine in the world,” Borghi said. When asked if he had a personal favorite wine from Numero 28’s offerings, Borghi smiled and said, “I don’t do favorites. They’re all my favorites. The next glass of wine I have is my favorite one.”
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‘Mauro: Un bravo regazzo’
One of Borghi’s business partners, Mauro Santucci, is the personable maestro behind the bar mixing up 14 different cocktails. Santucci seems to be quite a hit with customers as he places down drinks, food orders, tiramisu or scoops of gelato, all the while chatting up diners at the long bar’s seats.
Mauro Santucci chats with customers at Bastrop’s Numero 28, while serving up cocktails. He is a business partner with Marco Borghi.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
Marco complimented Mauro’s effervescent spirit with customers: “He’s ‘un bravo regazzo,’ a ‘good man’ in Italian,” Borghi said.
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‘Selling an Experience’
Borghi said service is paramount at Numero 28, which opened in Bastrop in October.
“We’ve shown the staff the Numero 28 way of how we want them to treat our guests,” Borghi said. “Our philosophy is, from the moment you come in to the moment you leave, you don’t ask for anything once. That’s perfect service.”
Numero 28 Pizzeria and Vineria opened at 1006 Main St. in Bastrop in October. Most evenings the eatery is filled up with diners.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
Borghi said wait staff are also carefully trained.
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“Once the food touches the table,” he said, “you need to be back there in a minute or so, to make sure everything is fine, so you correct it if there’s a problem.”
He said the aim is not to sell food or wine, but an experience.
“What is the experience you had from the moment you came into our restaurant to the moment you left?,” he said. “You got great food, you got great service, you got everything you wanted, you tried things you never had before. These are memories you keep in yourself and then you say, ‘Wow, we had a good time there, let’s go back. We just liked everything about it.’”
Julie Anne Robinson and Blake Torrey Wetsel enjoy a meal on the sidewalk outside Numero 28.
Terry Hagerty/Special to American-Statesman
Borghi, who lives near Bastrop, said he loves to come to work.
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“The energy, the excitement, seeing people wanting to come here, to share something new … this is like my living room, my backyard,” Borghi said.
He said Numero 28 will add out-back patio seating at the end of April, which will bring 25 seats to the 50 or so seats in the main room.
Pasta and pasta with meat dishes are $18 to $20 while antipasti/appetizers run from $7 to $18. Desserts, from tiramisu, cannolis and chocolate cake, are $8. Assorted flavors of gelato run from $5-$7.
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Numero 28 Bastrop is open Tuesdays through Thursdays, 4:30 to 9 p.m.; Fridays from 4:30 to 10 p.m.; Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed on Mondays.
Dining and Cooking