As Beijing rolls into a long, hot summer, it’s time to get serious about your diet. And no, we don’t mean your summer bod diet. We mean: which new place is set to become your go-to for carbs-on-carbs and wine?
Meet La Villa, a casual Italian joint, located a couple doors down from its French sister restaurant Bistro 108 (which, incidentally, was ‘that’ restaurant last summer), in the charming Liangmaqiao compound Caochang.
The restaurant’s dining area isn’t huge – a dozen tables and an al fresco area – but it’s welcoming and has a neighborhood feel to it. We grab one of the booths and give the menu a quick lookover. Quick because it’s only one page long.
After digging into the tasty complimentary homemade bread with pesto and tomato sauce, we try the gnocco fritto (RMB59) for starters. Described as “dough puffs with Parma ham,” this dish alone is worth coming to La Villa for. The homely fried pizza dough nuggets are a perfect companion to the accompanying salty ham and arugula.
The four seasons pizza (RMB98) arrives charred, but the pie’s chewy base and ham, pepperoni, artichoke and olive toppings are at once fresh and hearty.
There is also pasta and a couple of mains and risottos, plus dessert (the homemade tiramisu is delightful, RMB45), yet nothing else we try reaches the lofty heights of those fried puffs.
We visit during a workday lunch so we only indulge so far as cake and espresso. But like Bistro 108, La Villa also deals in superbly priced glasses of house wine (RMB25). Add in the casual outdoor area, and you’ve got a cozy, even fun-and-flirty, situation going on.
La Villa isn’t breaking new ground, but it is a fine place to chomp on a pizza, knock back a couple glasses of wine and… who knows what else? That's really all you need.
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