Le Virtù

Located in the East Passyunk neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Le Virtù offers an incredible menu boasting dishes rooted in or inspired by Abruzzese culinary tradition, with seasonal and local ingredients from the “terra” surrounding Philadelphia, as well as imported items like artisanal honey and cheeses from the Abruzzo region of Italy.

To start, my dining companion and I selected the ricotta di pecora from the popular restaurant’s extensive antipasti menu. The dish was incredible, featuring creamy sheep’s milk ricotta and fresh pears drizzled with sweet truffle honey and sea salt.

For our primi course, we chose the maccheroni alla mugnaia — hand-pulled, single-strand pasta cooked simply with garlic and extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with hot pepper and pecorino. The pasta was divine, perfectly doughy with just the right amount of garlic and extra virgin olive oil to give it a simple yet unique flavor.

While we were getting full but not ready to stop feasting, our entrees arrived in all their delectable glory. We split the bordetto casalese — seafood stew with fluffy couscous and slightly spicy red bell pepper-tomato brodo — and coniglio in porchetta — Lancaster County rabbit with melt-in-your-mouth faro and delicious roasted cauliflower. Both entrees were divine; the rabbit was perfectly tender while the stew was fresh and perfect for dipping fresh bread.

As we were perfectly satiated with our incredible entrees, we opted to pass up dessert, though I’m looking forward to returning and sampling the warm brioche bread pudding with house-made eggnog gelato and caramelized pear olive oil cake with cinnamon sheep’s milk ricotta soon.

Le Virtù

1927 East Passyunk Avenue

Philadelphia, PA 19148

tel 215 271 5626