Luca Osteria

It is impossible to have the “Miami’s best pasta” conversation without bringing up Luca Osteria. The Coral Gables restaurant, located along the pedestrian-only Giralda Plaza, has lots of spacious outdoor seating and a small, bright dining room good for a date, dinner with the parents, or sitting solo at the bar with a negroni and some marinated olives.

But you're coming here for the kind of fresh, al dente noodles that make you want to name your first born child Bucatini.

Pasta—as we hope we've made clear by now—should be on the table. But there is another dish that’s a definite must-order: the patate fritte. The dish—crispy potato balls covered in parmigiano fonduta, black truffle, and an egg yolk—might be the greatest thing anyone’s ever done with a potato since ​​Mr. Potato Head. Every bite is a perfect little explosion of fluffy potato, truffle, yolk, and cheese.

But even if a tragic potato supply chain incident were to take the patate fritte off the menu, we’d still be begging strangers to make a reservation here. The entire menu—from appetizers to dessert—delivers. Luca could easily succeed by clinging to its patate fritte or its near-perfect pasta, the same way Timothée Chalamet could easily succeed on cheekbones alone. Thankfully for us all, they’re both trying harder than that.

The menu at Luca Osteria changes frequently, but here are a few examples of the kind of dishes you might find here.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Fujifilmgirl

Patate Fritte

Order this. Please. It would be tragic if you didn’t because it’s one of the best dishes in the entire city. The crispy little fried potato balls are tasty enough on their own, but after being blanketed in a silky parmigiano fonduta, black truffle, and an egg yolk, they transcend to a higher level of deliciousness. There’s also an option to add even more shaved truffle, but this masterpiece doesn’t need it.

photo credit: Fujifilmgirl

Cacio E Pepe

This pasta is simple and excellent. Bits of smoked pecorino cling to each noodle for dear life, and there’s just the right amount of black pepper to cut through the richness.

photo credit: Fujifilmgirl

Bucatini Alle Vongole

This is not one of those seafood pastas where you’ll need a magnifying glass to find the seafood. The manila clams are (thankfully) all over the plate, and the best part of the dish. The pickled garlic butter is a close second though.

Lamb Chops

If you are a diehard lamb chop fan - like, you own an “I love lamb chops” shirt - then get this. They’re very good lamb chops. But the money is better spent getting more pasta on the table.

photo credit: Fujifilmgirl

Anto’s Tiramisu

Here are three facts about this tiramisu: it comes in a bowl, has a satisfying distribution of ladyfingers, and is a big enough portion that you won’t have to have a spoon fight if you split it with someone. If you’re sharing with three people or more, though, things might get aggressive.