The Parmigianno Chopstick

I love Italian food. Give me tons of cheese and a red sauce, and I am in heaven. I also love Japanese food. I could eat sushi every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Between Japanese and Italian I have 80% of my meals covered. So its no surprise that my recent trip to Basta Pasta, a restaurant famous for fusing Italian with Japanese sensibilities, made for an enticing meal.

To enter this restaurant is to walk into the heart of a working kitchen. I like to be included in the cooking process, especially when I could have walked right up to the grill and thrown on a steak. Everything about the layout and design of this restaurant was aimed at breaking down its context. The food is Italian, but the chefs are all Japanese. There are no pepper grinders, but waiters shave rock salt onto your appetizers; at once you are down on earth and in a city of clouds, immersed in the 6 foot tall posters of endless sky.

Sitting down at this stylized fusion fest; the food was fresh, the pasta homemade, and the flavors were foreign but oddly familiar. I have had many a ragout, but never based around sea bass. Fresh pasta with ricotta cheese, a standard, but with shitake mushrooms? I would eat this right now if there were any leftovers.

I am still trying to figure the place out. The clientele was as varied as the food, and my waiter- an Asian version of Lando Calrissian. Talk about east meets west. Though no sight of sushi, the menu merged an eclectic array of Italian favorites with Japanese flair. Most notable was the pasta with flying fish roe and shisho. I still don't know what shiso is, but I am pretty sure it's Japanese.

The food at Basta Pasta was a shot in the mouth; I thought I knew what to expect, but was really happy when I got a unique twist of flavor like a round house kick to the taste buds. As always, a very reasonable wine list is a plus; but no Saki, sadly.