150 Jennifer Road, Ste. F, Annapolis 443-949-0608 | pasticcioannapolis.com
PASTICCIO Fresh Italian Kitchen
DINING REVIEW
Italian Classics and a Few Surprises
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By James Houck Photography by Stephen Buchanan
asticcio is a neighborhood restaurant always at the ready to serve delicious, authentic, and fresh Italian cuisine and comfort dishes to it’s surrounding community. Did you forget to pull something out of the freezer the night before, for dinner today? No worries—take in a meal at Pasticcio. Are you running late to a dinner with friends and forgot to make an appetizer? Pasticcio can whip up yummy nibbles. Or, if like me and my family on one holiday evening, your plans unexpectedly shift and you have a car full of hungry kids and need to re-energize the troops, then call Pasticcio and put your faith in their take-out. Pasticcio has a full menu of Old Country classics and creative contemporary dishes, all available for dine in, take-out, and even delivery. 114
What’s Up? Annapolis | March 2021 | whatsupmag.com
Though the current pandemic has certainly skewed business sideways for many of our beloved restaurants, those that have adapted by concentrating on a combination of these three dining options—with a renewed focus on take-out and delivery—are skirting by this unprecedented challenge, if not staring it down with their success altogether. That’s a long way of saying that Pasticcio is operating full speed ahead. When my family’s plans hit a halt (literally stuck in traffic en route to Lights on the Bay one December night), we hightailed a U-turn and made way back toward the lights of Westfield Annapolis, famished and tired from sitting in the car needlessly for an hour. My own bright light turned on, and I thought/said, “Hey, let’s try Pasticcio!” That was a good call, as it turns out. We reviewed the menu online, called in our order for takeout, and picked it up in about 20 minutes time. In fact, when I arrived for pick-up and walked inside the shop-
ping center storefront located behind the larger Westfield complex, I wasn’t alone in hitting up this three-year-old restaurant to hit the spot. A line of patrons—all there for take-out—waited patiently, but not long, to receive their orders. The kitchen was buzzing, the front of house service was attentive and courteous, and the food came out lightning quick. With food in hand, we galloped home to set up our dining spread. It’s always fun to unbox a mass of take-out dishes across the dining table and settle in for a feast. All total, we ordered seven specialties and each appeared a colorful delight due to the freshness of ingredients, for which Pasticcio prides itself. Smatterings of green pesto, red marinara, and pink vodka sauce adorned several dishes. For starting appetizers (although let’s be honest, we dove into all dishes seemingly at once), we chose the Crab Arancini, Pesto Flatbread, and Grilled Sesame Shrimp.
