Rosti Tuscan Kitchen

Continuing our trek through the Santa Monica area, we made plans to meet up with some local friends at another area eatery by the name of Rosti Tuscan Kitchen. I was immediately excited about this place because I checked them out online before we went and found a ton a great stuff on the menu. It worked out great as both our friends are vegan, and this place has special vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free menus. This may have been the most anticipated restaurant of our trip for me.


And I'll say this place did deliver food-wise. I ended up choosing the Northern-style Chicken Parmigiano. It was really damn good. The pasta wasn't over- or under-cooked. The chicken was a good cut, very thin but wide so it wasn't skimpy. This was actually more than I could handle in one sitting, and I can usually polish off a serving of chicken parmesan. The cheese was deliciously melty. The sauce wasn't bad, didn't taste like it was from a can or anything which is usually a good sign. I tend to have the harshest criticisms for italian restaurants because that's the type of food I grew up eating. Perhaps unfairly I simultaneously find it the easiest to prepare and yet the easiest to find a fault in. Maybe that just makes me a douchey snob. *shrug*

While I've got my judgmental pants on (the pants command me), I do have to say something about the service. Maybe it was the dinner rush, maybe it was just our guy, but it was kinda...not great. First it took forever to get our drinks. Unusual, but it was mid-dinner rush so not unheard of or unforgivable. Usually, in these instances I try to make sure that I have 2 drinks (like iced-tea and a water) so that I can go farther in between refills without interrupting the eating experience too much. But the dry glasses would be a common theme throughout the night.

Then, when the server took our order, which was not complicated or numerous - we had four people and two of them were ordering off the much-abridged vegan menu - he had to repeat it back to us 3 times trying to make sure he got it right. Ok, I thought, that was strange but at least nothing will be wrong. Not super confidence-inspiring but not walk-out-in-a-huff either. The strangest part was he kept coming back not once, not twice, but three additional times to verify parts of our order. Which for the first two times he came back were not correct. The first time was quite wrong, the second, not as much, and I guess the third time was the charm. The inside is also crammed tight with tables pretty close together. Its a wonder the servers can even get around. While it didn't make for a bad eating experience, it was rather odd.

Honestly the food here is good enough to overlook the service this time around. It was really good. I hope I have a chance to come back and try other things on their menu in the future!