Every bit as good as I expected, only better...

I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Osteria Marco, the newest venture by Chef Frank Bonanno (of Mizuna and Luca d'Italia) in Larimer Square and the ode to his second son (Luca d'Italia being the ode to the first). I mentioned it briefly in my post about the cheese class I took in September - it's a more casual and affordable restaurant that still upholds some of his core values, like excellent food and wine. Who can argue with that?

Mr. M and I decided to hit it Friday evening, hot on the heels of a blurb in 5280's Table Talk as well as a mention in the Westword. I actually ran into the chef's wife, Jacqueline, at the door as we were coming in. (I had met her briefly at the cheese class and recognized her from there.) I congratulated her on her starring role in Jason Sheehan's Westword column:

"My wife, Jacqueline, fucking deserves all the fucking credit," Bonanno said when I got him on the phone the day after the very soft opening. Jacqueline did all the sourcing, all the design. She picked the colors, she found a guy who could turn a set of old bleachers into stained mahogany tabletops, and then, along with partner Ryan Gaudin and chef-partner Jean-Philippe Failyau, they'd built an entire panini bar.

Impressive, eh?

The space is below street level, so the hostess led us down the stairs into the dining room. Wine racks divide up some of the room and line the walls, while dark wood warms the space. The lighting is a bit dim, and the mood would be rather subdued but for the din produced by lively conversation and laughter from the surrounding patrons. How can a place be so pleasantly well-crafted and put-together yet so wonderfully relaxed all at the same time? They've struck this balance right on the money. And already, the place was almost full to capacity.

The menu is a bit more approachable and wallet-friendly than Bonanno's other establishments. A variety of salumi, house-made cheeses, appetizers, and salads are intriguing, as well as the pizzas and paninis. All quite simple yet well-thought-out.

We lubricated the menu-reading with a bottle of Scarpetta 2006 Tocai Friulano, made by none other than Bobby Stuckey and Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson of Frasca. Of course, it was excellent.

We started with some house-made burrata cheese, deliciously creamy in the center, served with grilled bread - fantastic. We also had an order of the red-wine cured bresaola, also quite good. We tried the artichoke fonduta, which was creamy, rich, and artery-clogging I'm sure, but it went down SO easy. We had some potato/parmesan/proscuitto crochettes as well - little bits of fried potato goodness. We ordered the spicy sopressata pizza with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and while the toppings were yummy, I almost couldn't get past the delicious crust - done to perfection. I couldn't ask for anything more. We were quite stuffed by that time, but Mr. M put us over the edge by ordering a fabulous butterscotch bread pudding to top off our meal.

Our bill came to $100, but half of that was the wine. I know, I said this place was supposed to be affordable, and actually you could come here and order one delicious pizza or panini and get out of here for $10. But me? I just can't do it. I start reading the menu, and automatically I want to order everything on it. I'll be back very soon. Bravo to the Bonannos!!