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Published: April 30, 2016, 10:55 a.m.

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Antichi Sopori is definitely serves one of the best authentic\\nItalian meals ever \\u2014 really one of the best meals ever period.

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And, to be perfectly honest, I use the word "authentic" mostly\\nfor Google. Because, while these dishes are spectacular, the chef\\ntakes traditional Italian foods and refines and redefines them to\\ncreate totally original tasty little morsels.\\xa0 In other words,\\nwhile the dishes could have originally come from your grandmother\'s\\nkitchen, these particular dishes are probably something no Italian\\ngrandmother would make.\\xa0 Certainly not Mama Cappelli.

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A majority of their ingredients for each dish come from their\\nlarge garden a few meters away from the restaurant.\\xa0 So it is\\na nice, heavy vegetarian meal (until you get to the meat course, of\\ncourse).

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The head chef, Pietro Zito, couldn\'t be a nicer guy and his\\nstaff really is top quality.\\xa0 The waiters know everything\\nabout the menu and every dish, while also serving everything with a\\nflourish and a smile.

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Hopefully the pictures and descriptions along with the podcast\\ngive you at least a taste of the amazing meal you can have when\\nvisiting.

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A little wine to start off the meal

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\\nYou\'ll see a bottle of their extra virgin olive oil\\nalso in the background.

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Baby fresh fava beans

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Served in a light sauce of lemon and oil.

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Cheese antipasti

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\\nClockwise starting at the top: Dried sausage. Ricotta\\nwith candied celery. Pecorino with candied carrots. Caciocavallo\\nwith candied onions. Capicola with pickled broccoli spears.

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Vegetable antipasti

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\\nClockwise starting at the top: an artichoke cooked\\n"old-style" with cheese inside; a frittata made from fresh baby\\ngreens; kale stuffed with ricotta and squash

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Artichokes

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\\nGrilled baby artichokes on a bed of mashed\\npotatoes

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Onions Gratine

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\\nOnions covered with breadcrumbs and cheese and baked\\nuntil brown.

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Focaccia

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\\nFoccacia made with Senator Cappelli grain (the same\\ngrain as our pasta)

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Sheep\'s milk cheese with fresh fava beans

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\\nThe\\ncheese literally melted in your mouth and paired with the tart fava\\nbeans the combinations was blow-away

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Troccoli

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\\nA\\nsquare spaghetti-like pasta with a sauce of brazed scallions,\\nbrazed tomatoes, and smoked sausage

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The scarpetta

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\\nRemember, bread is not there to fill you up before\\nyour meal! Italians use bread to mop up any sauce left after the\\npasta is gone. Literally it means "little shoe" I guess because it\\nlooks like you are making a little shoe move across your plate?\\nI\'ll have research that name...

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Orecchiette

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\\nOrecchiette (or little ears) a very traditional pasta\\nin Puglia made from grano arso with a wild broccoli rape. Be sure\\nto listen to Paul\'s explanation of what grano arso is and why it\'s\\ncalled tat. It\'s at around the 11 minute mark.

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Note this is not the exact pasta we had.\\xa0 It\'s the same\\npasta, but a different sauce.\\xa0 But I wanted to show you this\\ndish so you could see the style of pasta

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Crudite

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\\nPolignano a Mare carrots and fennel

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Fresh fava beans

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\\nStraight from the restaurant\'s garden

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Lamb with roasted potatoes

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\\nRoasted lamb thigh. This melted in your mouth. One of\\nthe best lambs I\'ve ever had.

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The lamb with gravy

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\\nThe\\ngravy was almost as good as the lamb itself. This dish was\\nsomething I\'d love to perfect at home. I think that\'s a challenge\\nto myself!

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Pork steak

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\\nThis\\nmelted in your mouth, too. I mean. I was dying. This was so good.\\nTo be honest, their meat dishes have never been the highlight of\\ntheir meals, but they really stepped up their game with these two.\\nI would go back just for this. And I LOVED everything else. But\\nseriously. I hope these become standard on the menu!

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Cassata (sort of)

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\\nSponge cake soaked in either fruit juice or liquor,\\nlater with ricotta cheese and then a thin shell of chocolate with\\nchocolate sauce drizzled on top.

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This is, again, more their take on a traditional cassata so I\\nuse that term loosely. But whatever it\'s called, it\'s\\ndelicious.

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After-dinner drinks

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\\nNocino and limoncello with some sugar-coated almonds.\\nWant to make your own limoncello, check out our recipe here. Trust\\nme. It\'s so much better.

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Here\'s where you\'ll find our "Crack" Almonds: Sugar.\\xa0 Like the ones you\\nsee pictured here.

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Baba a rum

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\\nA\\nsmall spongy cake soaked in rum served with cream.

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Deconstructed Tiramisu

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\\nLady\\nfingers dipped in coffee later with marscapone topped with a\\nsprinkling of chocolate and crumbled almond cookies

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Apple Torte

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\\nNot\\nmy favorite, but still delicious

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Mama Cappelli

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\\nI\'m\\nnot sure she LOVED the place as much as we did. She liked all the\\nmeals, but as with any traditional Italian grandmother, if it\'s not\\nthe way her family made it, it\'s not really the right way.

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Here\'s where you can find out more about Antichi Sapori.

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Do you agree it\'s one of the best authentic meals ever?\\xa0\\nWhat are you thoughts?\\xa0 Let us know in the comments below.

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