Though I wrote a short review on Sfoglia last year, I must reiterate my thoughts from this most recent visit. Sfoglia is nothing short of lovely. At lunch, it’s not as difficult to get a seat, but dinner reservations are hard to come by mainly because Sfoglia’s so small. The atmosphere, which is rustic and dark, is not as quirky as Il Buco, another rustic Italian favorite of mine. And even though they were playing lounge music in the background, it was soothing, not the dance club beats that lead to indigestion. Everything at this quaint restaurant just feels right.

Spaghetti with tomato sauce may be the most basic pasta, but it is the one I always choose because, ironically, truly good tomato sauce is hard to come by. And, though at Sfoglia, it’s your choice of any pasta to go with this sauce, spaghetti happens to be my favorite. The sauce lets the pure freshness of the San Marzano speak for itself with a little accent of basil. It was so amazing that even after I was done with the pasta and there was a last dab of tomato sauce that I planned to clean up with a piece of bread, when a bus boy asked if he could clear the plate, I nearly leapt across the table to save it. But I think my expression scared him enough that he politely left the plate and our table.

After dinner, we were in such good spirits that we walked a good fifteen blocks downtown before hailing a cab. No wonder it’s so hard to get a seat at Sfoglia; it’s simply magical!