My wife and I enjoyed an absolutely fantastic meal at Tratto last night. Tratto is Chris Bianco’s newest restaurant in Phoenix – so new, it’s not even listed on his website yet!

Yup, the all-white interior is there, the kitchen is suitably handsome and the attentive staff know how to pace a meal. IMHO, all good signs and reflective of a level of attention to detail that’s increasingly rare these days.

While we decided to chance it and drop in without calling ahead – and on a Saturday night no less – forget being able to follow in our footsteps come September. Let me repeat, this tiny place is going to routinely fill up. In fact, I fully expect securing a prime time dining slot on a Friday or Saturday night will become an accomplishment worthy of a happy dance!

We started with the heirloom tomato appetizer, then followed with each of the two pasta entrees offered that evening and finished with the fig tart and a pair of perfectly-prepared espressos. While the 2010 Barbera from Fabrizio Iuli I selected took a while to open up, by the time the pasta bowls graced our table, it had relaxed a bit, (as had we), and turned out to be a rather nice compliment to the entire meal.

OK, so where’s the rant? Surprise, surprise – no rant today folks, just a reminder of what draws the two of us out into 105 degree temperatures in early July – the promise of a great meal. …and, in this case, that promise was fully realized at Tratto last night. Bravo!