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The Arcadia News features restaurant reviews each month.
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Sugo Pastaria Winebar
4151 N. Marshall Way ~ 480.949.SUGO

I am thirty-six years old. I grew up in the seventies and by the end of the eighties I was an adult. I know that there are a few readers out there my age that will identify with what I am about to tell you.

My parents are not Italian but somehow a conspiracy was formed between my mother, the Scottsdale School district, and the Spaghetti Factory. It’s impossible to look back now and understand the motivations. Was it for greed? Power? Maybe a lie got started and they just spent their whole lives covering it up until even they believed it. I don’t know, but two weeks ago the plug to their jukebox got yanked mid-song and their house of cards came apart like a dentist chair kicked from the bed of a pickup truck onto the 202. I discovered that the spaghetti and lasagna they had trained me like a monkey to eat, was not Italian food. In fact, it does not qualify as livestock feed back in Calabria, where Joey Osso lived as a little Bambino.

Osso is the head chef of Sugo Pastaria Winebar. He makes the best pasta I have ever eaten and if doctor Atkins had known anything about Joey and his food before his unfortunate passing he would have bonfired his files and learned to ride a bicycle to keep the pounds off.

The salad (Le Insalate) Emilia ($9) is an eclectic mix of baby greens, arugula with shaved Parmigiano, red peppers, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar. As a starter this could divide well amongst four. We kept it around through the dinner and nibbled on it, a good choice.

The Capellini Gamberi ($13) is the most expensive item on the menu. Angel hair pasta with shrimp and saffron Sambuca cream sauce. What Joey does here is unusual because he manages to serve something sweet, creamy and rich but somehow, not very heavy (bravo!). This dish loves a cool white Pinot Grigio next to it and so will you.

There is a wide variety to this menu of pastas, Gli antipastis (starters) and salads. Desserts include Pannacotta (the Italian version of Crème Brulee) and a sinful ravioli filled with Gnuttella and Mascarpone which my wife would not allow me to try. The bar includes a list of specialty Martinis all made with a variety of Italian Vodka and liqueurs. It’s all good, and well worth the workout.