Rebirth of an old friend–Figlio

Honestly. We didn’t do this on purpose. My last post was about Primebar which occupied the space at Calhoun Square where Figlio used to be. Figlio thrived there for 25 years. Primebar and one other – Il Gatto – came and went. Meanwhile, the owners of Figlio reportedly regretted giving up the space. But they have made an effort to make up for their poor judgment by reopening at West End.

It took us a while, but we finally made it to the new Figlio. We went after watching a movie (Lincoln. Loved it, though I don’t disagree with awarding Best Picture to Argo).

To start with, we really liked the décor and ambiance of ‘Figlio 2.0’ which is what the marketers call it. It’s different from Calhoun Square. But it was spacious with a lot of energy. The hostess who seated us was very friendly and accommodating. The first table they offered us was right by the servers’ station. My wife asked if they had anything else. It only took a couple of minutes and they accommodated us with a table by a window.

Once seated, we started with cocktails. My wife had an Old Fashioned, which she liked very much. I asked if the bartender made a sazarac. The server said she wasn’t sure, but she thought he could find a recipe. That should have been a clue. The sazarac she brought me was ok, but not very authentic. She asked me how I liked it. I said ok, but the bartender should to to New Orleans and get a lesson in how to make an authentic sazarac.

For a starter, we decided to split the Caprese salad. It was good. But the menu said the mozzarella was ‘hand-pulled.’ Maybe. But it was more like a commercial low-fat mozzarella. It didn’t have the soft, creamy texture of a house-made mozz. It was good, but not great.

My wife ordered a burger. She said it was very good. I asked her if it was as good as the burger she enjoyed so much last week at Primebar. She admitted that she liked the Primebar burger slightly better. But they’re closed. And this was a pretty good burger.

I remembered that the old Figlio did a great job with pasta. So I saw an entry on the menu for roasted butternut squash cappelletti, described on the menu as squash-stuffed ‘little hats’ tossed in a mascarpone sauce with fried sage, pumpkin seed oil. They were delicious, though pretty rich. It was not a big serving. But I could have split it with someone as a side and ordered a burger.

My wife and I agreed that it’s great to have Figlio back. We will definitely return again someday.