POD, a northern Italian gem. Truly outstanding.
Who doesn’t love good Italian food? And who doesn’t enjoy having the cute young husband (Marco, the chef) and wife dote on you, give you advice, stop by and visit and laugh with their thick English accent.
Welcome to POD, Osteria Del Duomo.
Marco, as he introduced us to the menu, made it very clear this was Northern Italian food — he waved at the large “Milano”banner hanging above the counter — not the typical Southern Italian food found in the area.
Ft Lauderdale is full of Italian restaurants. We have been to at least a dozen. Our favorite has always been La Dolce Vita, right off A1A near Oakland Park.
The innocuous, unassuming, tiny, POD just climbed to the top. Everything about it was unassuming, in a cute way. Tucked into a small strip mall on Commercial Boulevard at Ft Lauderdale by the Sea, right before the bridge, it held no more that 10-12 tables. The menu was a three-paneled pamphlet, like something you’d are at Staples.
A menu is the doorway to a restaurant and there is nothing better than to look at it, and think: I’ll take it all. And that was the case. In fact, when we ordered the appetizers — a special type of super-thin crust pizza (pidazo) and a crudo plate with mozzarella, vegetables, bread and prosciutto, Marco winced and when we probed he said it was too much food. His honesty and comfort made it a nice povit. So we shared the crudo.
For entrees, although he claimed to be able to make any kind of risotto, we both went for ravioli. One was the special — lobster ravioli. The other was a spinach and ricotta and tomato sauce. My wife, who’s amazing sauce comes from her grandmother’s recipe, is a connoisseur. This was a test.
The crudo was superb; the mozzarella was so tasteful (let’s face it, most are bland) we asked Marco where he got it. A man from Puglia who lived nearby makes it, he told us. The prosciutto went with it and the tiny bowl of marinated vegetables made each bite a pile on of flavors. It was enough food for two, but I regret there was not more.
The ravioli? Both were as good as it gets. Each dish had five, large ravioli. The lobster came with tiny chopped pieces of celery with just a slight sauce of butter. Perfectly cooked and creamy. Rich but not too rich. The celery just added an unusual and distinctive texture which just seemed right.
The spinach ravioli was equally superb — the sauce was so so good, you had to dip a piece of bread in it to soak some up. Cooked to perfect texture.
After the plates were cleared, we had no intention of getting desert, but the owner convinced us. She was so convincing, you wanted to believe her. Yes, please bring some: Peach sorbet inside a hollowed out peach: Lemon sorbet inside a hollowed out lemon, resting in a small bowl of limoncello. Again, both were amazing. The sweetness of the lemon ice and the strong liqueur just slid cool and strong over your palette.
When asked, he said he had been there two years, and in a quirky gesture, looked at his watch as if ready to count the days and hours. The wife moved back and forth, always attentive, big smile, almost shy and genuinely grateful of our compliments.
This small, unassuming restaurant is very authentic and very very good. The young couple radiated a shy confidence that what they were serving was food made with love. They were right.
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Outspoken Traveler 