Pasta Party

We are now part-way into the Jewish holiday of Passover - 8 breadless days. Modern interpretations actually prohibit anything that could remotely be perceived as "leavened", or even items that might have been physically close to something leavened and therefore could - hypothetically - be contaminated. In short, lately we've been eating a lot of vegetables, fish, and of course the ubiquitous matzah, the unleavened "bread" (i.e. crackers) of the holiday.

But last Sunday, after scouring our kitchen from top to bottom and a day spent cooking special Passover dishes, Gidon and I set out for one last leavened bonanza, or as I like to call it, our "yeast feast". And when it comes to Passover prohibitions, no one does it better than Italy. So we tried out Fratelli la Bufala.

This restaurant is no secret. It's a highly trafficked venue on Rue Americaine, and part of an international, family-run chain, mostly found in Italy but with about a dozen other countries on their franchise list.

And, as you might guess from the name, the focus is on buffalo - its meat, milk, and the cheese made from that milk. To our chagrin, we were informed before ordering that they had had a busy weekend, and by the time of our dining on Sunday night, they had actually run out of the buffalo mozzarella. Given how packed they were on this particular Sunday (and I don't imagine this was a fluke of Jews dining out before Passover), it seems they could do with some better planning in that regard.

So while I can't really discuss the mozzarella with you, I can tell you that we certainly didn't starve and we actually very much enjoyed our mozzarella-less meal. We shared a starter of layers of baked aubergine with tomato and provola - a smoked, smooth cheese with a consistency similar to mozzarella. A great beginning.

I tried to order the gnocchi, served with a buffalo milk ricotta, but unfortunately they were out of that, too. I switched gears to the tortiglioni, in a buffalo cream sauce with zucchini (known to some around here as courgette). The pasta was al dente, the flavors were subtle, we were happy. We also sampled a pizza, which did feature buffalo mozzarella - we checked that when ordering. The crust was chewy and toasty, the toppings were fresh; the happiness continued.

On to dessert: mini cannoli, filled with buffalo ricotta, accented with chocolate. Our neighboring diners were a course ahead of us and when we saw this dessert served to them, our path was clear. A light and lovely ending.

While I was a bit disappointed with the limited menu, I was still pleased with the meal we ended up eating. To top it off, the service was friendly, and the setting was comfortable. At about 30 Euro per person, it was right on par with this trendy neighborhood's dining scene. It's worth a return visit - hopefully next time with some of that mozzarella.

Fratelli la Bufala

Rue Americaine 118

1050 Ixelles

Tel. 02 537 6700

Closed on Mondays

Reservations not a bad idea

http://www.fratellilabufala.com/ (enjoy the "cheesy" video...)