Lunch deals at a "tavola calda" in the larger Pescara area (2 of 2) Here's yet another of those "tavola calda" locales that does business other than just "pranzo italiano." You can come to Ristofficina for an a la carte lunch, for dinner, to have a drink, or to stand up at the bar and have your espresso. I'm not quite on board with this standing up and downing a small cup of coffee with the strength of kerosene. While we don't see that much stateside, you can definitely experience it in South Florida. Versailles Cuban in Miami's Little Havana has "la ventanita," with an equivalent indoor area on the other side of it, and there you'll see the stand up crowd drinking their cafecito Cubano. It's too bad some of them don't do stand-up in real life because they can be quirky and animated folks and I'm almost sure they'd have a lot of material. I must get back on track and stop talking about Miami's interesting Cuban culture. I also stumbled onto Ristofficina. It's next to a cluster of car dealerships in the Villa Raspa neighborhood and I window shop at those quite well. Here, I asked about Ristofficina and it was given a nod of approval. Ristofficina is the slamming together of the words "ristorante" and "officina." The former is obvious. The latter is a garage or repair shop. Other than the glass panels in the storefront, there is nothing inside that features an industrial look. They, too, have lunch specials for "pranzo italiano" and they are all formulated slightly differently, but they are very good. Here, I've mixed it up a bit, where I've gotten less of the lunch food and added a dessert and/or a caffe' Americano. The coffee will come from the bar and will get spliced onto your bill. It works out well. When you walk in, there is a large space with tall ceilings, a lot of glass, and a comfortable woodsy feel. To the left is a similar eating area with lower ceilings and, to the right, is the bar. The stand-up or pub height crowd will go here and, if there are barflies at night, they will be at this same bar. Most people were seated having lunch. The service has been excellent each time. The restaurant manager who might also ring you up is very personable. The food selection area is behind the large dining area and it's easy to get into, circle around its islands, and get back into the dining area. It's also organized. The chef who works there, as others have said, is humorous and seems to enjoy putting the food on your plate and making sure you get what you like. It goes without saying that the prices are fair. That's why it's popular at lunch. At night, the prices go up for dinner a la carte. While I really liked Sarni and gave it 4 stars, I'm going to give a 5-star nod to Ristofficina in Villa Raspa, which is a frazione ("fraction") of Spoltore, the latter of which is contiguous with Pescara. I really like the eating area and the windows all around, so it relaxes a person such that they might not be so ready to eat quickly and leave. Then, I get a kick out of its being in Villa Raspa, since, looked at under American lenses, it sounds like it would be a villa for those with raspy voices. Well, there are a lot of smokers in Italy. read more

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