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Review content:
For those who think of homey, tasty, and inexpensive Italian food when hearing ?Osteria? ? well, getting two out of three is not bad if you can afford the prices of Marc Vetri?s second restaurant venture. The warm brown tones of the nicely styled restaurant are inviting and there is an informal and relaxed air in the almost always full restaurant.\r
The menu features something for everyone hungry for Italian-style dishes. A wonderful plate of salumi, including lardo, mortadella, intense salami, and nutty prosciutto, is a great starter made even better when nibbling at the same time on the fabulous grissini made in house. For vegetarians, there is a fine array of freshly grilled seasonal vegetables. I never miss the wood-grilled octopus plate, the lightly charred tentacles providing a salty counterpoint to the potatoes on the plate. And then, of course, there are the pizzas: perfectly fired pies with wonderful toppings ? clams, snails, eggplant, or the simpler but perfect margherita. Of the pastas, I could eat a triple serving of the robiola francobolli (stamp-size ravioli), and I like the robustly seasoned gnocchi sardi (the prosciutto makes them nicely salted). I am less fond of the bucatini with testa ragu (finding the ragu a tad bland and the bucatini overcooked).\r
Of the main plates, the choices are many. I loved the stuffed bay lamb, the wood-grilled halibut, and the rabbit. The aged rib-eye for two will satisfy the most intense carnivore desire. The wine list is interesting and priced fairly, with many uncommon Italian wines that match the food very well.\r
A couple minor complaints ? the saltiness of some dishes is very pronounced and the appetizers plates tend to be quite small for the price. Also, when I ordered the cheese plate, three of the five cheeses were very similar, aged hard cheeses. These are minor quibbles. Jeff Benjamin and Marc Vetri have a winner on N. Broad street and I plan to eat at Osteria as often as my pocket book will allow.
Pros: tasty, well-prepared plates with superb ingredients, interesting, fairly-priced wine list
Cons: un-Osteria like prices
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