Monday Munchies: Cura Osteria left us wanting more
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The Maltagliati al Peperoni Arrosto. Photo: Alex Golden/Axios
Downtown Rogers has a newish spot serving contemporary Northern Italian cuisine.
💸 State of play: I spent just under $150 on dinner for two at Cura Osteria and still had to grab food elsewhere afterward because we were both still hungry.
- That's not to say any of the food was bad, but the small portions were not worth the price. Even if you knocked off the one glass of wine, you're still looking at close to $130 — and I don't want to go out for pasta and have to forfeit wine.
🍝 What we ate: We shared the Gnocchi di Patate al Pomodoro ($21) with tomato sauce and Piave cheese and the Maltagliati al Peperoni Arrosto ($22), a pasta with roasted pepper crema, toasted hazelnuts, ricotta and basil.
- The gnocchi was a comforting dish, but the latter was lacking. It was plain flat pasta in a thin sauce with some hazelnuts here and there and a little ricotta, which I had to ration to give it any umph.
- We then shared the Capesante scottate ($56), which included four seared scallops, grilled radicchio and shaved fennel and herbs. The scallops were delicious, especially here in our landlocked state, but not enough to make me forget they were $14 each.
🇮🇹 How it works: Like many nice Italian restaurants, you ideally start with an antipasto (appetizer) dish, then a primo (pasta) and then a secondo (protein).
- Granted, if we each had three dishes to ourselves, we wouldn't have gone out for more food, but we also would have spent up to $250 after tax and tip without drinks or dessert.
🍰 Zoom out: If you must see for yourself, Cura has a $75-per-person chef's choice offering that's probably your best bet and includes dessert.
📍 Stop by: 5-9pm Tuesday through Saturday at 312 S. First St. in Rogers.