Delarosa is home to communal-style dining, all-day, every day. Though it is known for its Roman-Style Pizza (not gluten-free), Delarosa has many delicious options for the non-gluten connoisseur. The restaurant has a neighborhood feel with long communal tables and a friendly wait-staff. The drinks are unpretentious, and the plates are packed with flavor…
Since the plates are small, I was able to order a variety of dishes. Of course I had to taste one of the buzz worthy cocktails, so I ordered an El Diablo; blanco tequila, lime, ginger, agave, cassis (a sweet, dark red liqueur made from blackcurrants). One sip and we were off to a great start! Unfortunately, the pizza couldn’t be made gluten-free, so I had to use my imagination as I watched my (non gluten-free) boyfriend down an entire tray. I started off with an eggplant appetizer, eggplant caponatina with burrata. This small bowl was the perfect salty accompaniment to my sweet and citrusy drink. The burrata was so fresh and creamy, and the castelvetrano olives added some nice crunchy texture along with the softness from the perfectly cooked eggplant. I always order eggplant when I see it on the menu because it is just so hard to get the right consistency at home.
Since I couldn’t order pizza, I went for the alternative carb option instead: pasta. Our server was great with recommendations since his girlfriend is also gluten-free, so I let him choose the pasta dish. The gluten-free pasta option is a penne style noodle. Consistency is always an issue when it comes to gluten-free pasta, but these noodles were done just right. I ordered the pappardelle napoletana, which came with penne in lieu of the pappardelle. This dish had a tomato-based sauce and was topped with herbs, heirloom tomatoes and squid. The saltiness from the seafood went perfectly with the sweetness from the tomato sauce.
My last menu item, scallops with citrus, leeks and potatoes, was from the Spiedini section of the menu. The scallops came on two skewers (two scallops per skewer) and were served over a bed of citrus potatoes. Though I had my carb ration from the pasta, these potatoes were too hard to resist. Scallops are another weakness of mine, and these little sea critters had the right amount of sear on them. Even my non scallop-loving boyfriend said they were tasty!
Just when I thought I couldn’t cram anything else in my stomach, our waiter came around with panna gelato topped with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. This was the only gluten-free dessert option, and I have no complaints about it. Sweet and salty is my favorite dessert combination, and this gelato was so fresh that it hardly even felt calorie dense. Moments before this arrived, we couldn’t even imagine putting another ounce of food in our stomachs, but somehow, that all disappeared as soon as it got to our table. We were fighting for the last bite.
Delarosa is a versatile eatery that is perfect for any occasion. Everything we ate tasted like it was made to order, and you could definitely taste the attention to detail. Gluten-free Italian can be tricky to master, but Delarosa has a pleasant amount of variety, and items can easily be modified and made gluten-free!