La Strada Palo Alto
La Strada is the ultimate Italian hot spot in Palo Alto. I walked in this restaurant the first time when I looked at the menu and found no misspelling. I use this as a gauge of how good the team at the restaurant is, and how much care/ attention they have taken in their execution. Donato, the chef/ co-owner of the restaurant, is the ultimate PR professional: you will find him walking around the tables every night, keeping his connections to the very well faithful clientele and suggesting amazing dishes for your dinner table.
His native town, Bergamo, peaks in many of the menu choices: Casonsei alla Bergamasca, for example, is a delicious dish of fresh home made pasta filled with a blend of amaretti and spices, and the daily dishes reflect on the fresh market choices. Pizza is always a good choice at La Strada: the wood burning oven delivers a good pizza and some good alternative dishes, like piadina (Romagna-style sandwiches filled with mozzarella and prosciutto) and schiacciata (an open face pizza-like appetizers served with prosciutto and arugola). If you’re up for it, try one of the seasonal risotti- with mushrooms, pumpkin or seafood, Donato makes the best risotto in the Bay Area!
On a Friday night, you will find the who’s who of the South Bay Italian community eating dinner here: from the cofunders of very successful tech start-ups to venture capitalists, to animation studio gurus- all the way to the current Stanford students from Italy! Not to mention Mr. Vittoria- the co-owner of La Strada and very successful Italian developer in the Palo Alto area. Everyone is here- where are you?
335 University Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 324-8300
Filed under: Peninsula, Pizzerie, Restaurants
[...] in the Bay Area by the hip restaurants that started including it in their menu as appetizers, like La Strada in Palo Alto) and robiola, a light mascarpone of sorts, used in diet versions of tiramisu’ [...]
[...] Not really an Italian joint, Tomatina has piadina on its menu for both lunch and dinner, while La Strada in Palo Alto makes a good piadina (although they use pizza dough instead of unleavened dough) for [...]
[...] much fuzz, then Pasta? is a good destination. Located on University Avenue, across the street from La Strada and around the corner from Vero, it manages to create for itself a very different menu that either [...]
[...] the Bay Area, you will find stunning risottos at La Strada in Palo Alto and Beretta in San Francisco. If you want to make your own- a full step-by-step [...]
I’m a La Strada regular and appreciate this restaurant greatly. Having lived in France, I’m quite used to owner/chef restaurants. They are the rule in Europe. Sadly in the USA, it is very difficult to find an owner/chef on the premises. Restaurants are set-up by Executive Chefs and Managing Partners with MBAs and systems are put in place. There is no artisan culture. La Strada is a departure from that. Donato is an artisan/owner on site.
The food is authentic which is a double-edged sword for the restaurants. Donato loves and appreciates Northern Italian cuisine. He exudes it. He is never heavy-handed with ingredients and flavors. Customers expecting “Italian” food are often disappointed simply because they either don’t know it or have a typical American palate, i.e. more is better.
La Strada’s food is fresh, pure and seasonal. I would recommend anyone to talk to Donato and let him know what they like. He also knows his wines.