The first people I mentioned Le Gallo Rosso to said something like, "What, where?" This small Italian restaurant, inconspicuously located in a Victorian-era house on Bardstown Road, is easy to miss among the other high profile restaurants that surround it. The Bristol is next-door and Avalon is across the street.
The formerly residential location is part of Le Gallo Rosso's charm. When my boyfriend and I walked in, we were seated at a table in what we thought might have been the house's old kitchen.
The menu is small and focused on Italian classics with a Sicilian influence. The wine and beer list is also short and exclusively Italian. We started with red wine, house salads, and a scallop appetizer. The salads and appetizer were both small and artfully presented, which led me to believe that the main course would be, also.
My boyfriend ordered the lasagna, and I got the capellini pasta with pomodoro sauce. When the server sat the entrees down on the table, I heard the old wooden floorboards groan. The lasagna portion was probably 6 inches squared, and weighed in at least 2 pounds. My pasta was a huge, heaping pile with a mountain of grated parmesan. Fortunately, Le Gallo Rosso's entrees are as much about quality as they are quantity.
The lasagna is made with a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal. The spicy red sauce and thick ricotta cheese balanced each other perfectly. I have no Italian heritage, but if I did have an Italian grandmother, this lasagna would be the comfort food she made. The capellini had the same wonderfully spicy, acidic tomato sauce and possibly the most flavorful parmesan cheese I've ever had.
We both ate about one-third of the entrees before we waved the flag of surrender. Despite having already eaten a mountain of carbohydrates, I decided to order dessert. I got the chocolate chip macaroon cheesecake, and the portion of the cheesecake rivaled the portion of lasagna. After a few sweet, rich, satisfying bites, I gave up. The take-home boxes we got were substantial, but Le Gallo Rosso gave us leftovers to look forward to.
