A couple of weeks ago, we both had the pleasure of attending a class on Italian Cheeses at Orange Tree Imports taught by Francesco Mangano from Osteria Papavero. His passion and knowledge about the cheeses of his home country was very evident, and we tried several locally available varieties of fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and parmigiano.
We especially enjoyed the Burrata, which is a ball of solid mozzarella on the outside, and inside, a mix of fine mozzarella pieces and cream. It is a blend of deliciously creamy textures, like a soft boiled egg of cheese. Also his pairing suggestion marscapone cheese and a fig compote on slices of bread was an amazingly simple, appetizer-like dessert.
With a chef as passionate as Francesco is about food, we decided to visit Osteria Papavero for dinner. And while we had already found the lunches of simple sandwiches and pastas at Osteria Papavero to be very good, that hadn’t prepared us for the amazing Italian dinner experience we enjoyed.
Based upon Francesco’s recommendations of dishes to try at his restaurant, we started with the salumi misto as a shared appetizer, especially after he mentioned that they cure and smoke several of the sausages and meats in-house.
The platter we were served was heaped with a venison braciola, a house smoked pancetta, mortadella, prosciutto rosso, and a sopressata. All of the meats were amazing, but the melt in your mouth pancetta and the tender, but flavorful, venison braciola were especially wonderful. With the excellent bread basket they brought to the table, this could have been dinner in itself.
However, we then would have missed some amazing entrees.
The entrees at Osteria Papavero are unique because they avoid the typical menu traps of red sauce laden Italian-American dishes, or Italian fusion flights of fancy that never seem to land anywhere recognizable. The antipasti/contorni, the carne, and the pastas all seem rooted in simple, traditional Italian flavors, with an extensive use of seasonal and local ingredients from the Madison area.
A good example was that night’s fish special of sablefish that we enjoyed: the moist and flaky sweetness of the fish was surrounded by a pancetta accented broth and smothered with the fresh spring newness of locally sourced ramps and morels.
The Cervo pasta dish, another special, was an delicious elk ragu over flattened tubes of tender pasta, flavored with generous gratings of a nutty grana cheese.
Finally, we had dessert. Normally, we aren’t dessert-in-restaurants people, but as with the entrees, the house made desserts were so unique and intriguing we had to try. For many Italian or Italian-like restaurants, desserts seem to lack the originality of the entrees, ending up like a monotonous parade of Tiramisu, each identical to the one from the previous menu.
Which is why when we saw a pine nut torte with caramel on the menu, which we then paired with a goats milk sorbet, we decided that dessert at Osteria Papavero may be worth the extra calories. The torte itself was very simple and not cloyingly sweet, but each bite had the nutty texture of the pine nuts smothered with a sticky caramel sauce on top.
But it was the addition of the goats milk sorbet that made the dish. The flavor of the sorbet was that of pure goats milk, and its tangy tartness provided just the right counter point to the sweet caramel.
The only downside to the meal was that our server struggled a bit with recommendations from the intriguing Italian wine list for pairings with the salumi and the entrees; however, they were more than accommodating with tastings, in order to allow us to find the best fit with the food.
Here are some other local thoughts on Osteria Papavero:
Osteria Papavero is located downtown on Wilson Street, almost next door to Restaurant Magnus, and open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner.
joe says
tried to make a nice romantic valentines evening and paid high dollar for terrible unprofessional service and I could literally fit my main course on a small spoon! To top it off when I got home and checked my bank account I found out they more than doubled there tip. Nice atmosphere, terrible rude management!
Foodie says
Wow, what an unfortunate experience! While we found the focus at Osteria Papavero to be on the food, rather than the service, we’ve never run into an experience like the one you had. I’m sure the owner, Francesco Mangano, would want to hear about what you went through and would make things right.