Il Sogno Osteria

My parents, who were in town for a few days to visit us before Christmas, took us out to Il Sogno Osteria, known for its homemade past, to celebrate my birthday. The restaurant is located at Pearl Brewery, which I had been meaning to visit. It doesn’t take reservations, though, so I recommend getting there when the restaurant opens (6pm) to get a table quickly – it’s worth it.

To start, I definitely recommend sharing antipasti for the table. You choose them from a buffet, and there was quite a good selection the night we were there; we ended up with a salad of fennel and green apples, goat cheese in olive oil (truly the best goat cheese I’ve had in a very long time), roasted red peppers in a cream sauce, roasted beets in a citrus sauce, and a seafood salad. There was also complimentary foccacia with roasted garlic, which was absolutely delicious. I then had the butternut squash ravioli in a sage butter sauce topped with crumbled biscotti, and it was divine. It was a little sweet, but not too much, and the texture was just perfect. I also tasted that night’s special, shredded pork braised in a wine sauce served with creamy polenta. It was delicious as well, and would have satisfied me just as much as the ravioli (but I had insisted on choosing pasta, since that’s the house specialty). There is also a good wine selection, though I’m not the best judge of price points here. For dessert, let me recommend the famous Nutella tart, served with homemade ice cream. I could have eaten two of those! I also tasted the Bunet, which is like a chocolate custard, quite good as well.

I’m very happy I got to eat there, as the meal was absolutely fantastic – and in good company, too. I probably won’t go often, as it is more expensive than where the Engineer and I normally eat, but we’ll definitely keep this place in mind for special occasions.