After the “City’s Fifty Best Restaurants” article came out in Atlanta magazine, I set a goal to try the ones in the top ten to which we hadn’t been.  Second reservation, after the yet-to-be-topped Restaurant Eugene, was at Sotto Sotto.

Early on a Saturday we went.  This seems to be our best time for dinner if we want a reservation at a nice restaurant – plus we’re the one of the youngest couples in the room.  Upon arrival they showed us to a table, which was in that odd set-up – banquette seating for one side of the table, chairs for the other.  This led to one of the two complaints about this place: 1) when you’re sitting on a banquette, you’re subject to EVERY move made by anyone else sitting on the same piece of furniture.  This was complicated by 2) they had about two too many tables in the place.  It had that cluttered “New York” feel.  When we sat we were between two couples: two band directors to my right who were drinking wine and talking about band competitions and a couple to my left where he took a series of calls (to his trophy wife, “I need to take this, it’s important”) loudly while she smiled vacantly.  To the food, I started with an heirloom tomato caprese.

I am a caprese fan and this one was excellent.  Each tomato was of a different variety and the olive oil was lemon-infused.  Good start!

On to the entree, I chose Tortelli di Michelangelo.  This is a recipe from Michelangelo’s letters: veal, chicken and pork ravioli in a butter-sage sauce.  Magnifico!

Jo tried two small plates – a risotto and a pasta.  Both were excellent.  Overall, this was a fantastic meal at a restaurant that we really wouldn’t care to eat in again.  Remove a few tables, it would be a very different story.  And would definitely be a winning atmosphere.  The food already is there.