Critics’ choice: House-made pastas in three cities

Rolf and Daughters Nashville

“Lord knows I’ve eaten my fair share of pasta dishes around the country this year,” said Andrew Knowlton in Bon Appétit. But even though house-made noodles seem to be every restaurateur’s answer to our uncertain economic times, few can compare with those made by chef Philip Krajeck at this rowdy neighborhood joint in Nashville’s Germantown. “Krajeck was put on earth to make pasta.” Though Belgian-born, he grew up cooking with Italian families who lived on either side of him, and he later apprenticed with Italian chefs who taught him to twist pasta dough into such shapes as strozzapreti, or “priest stranglers.” Today, Krajeck’s rustic sauces and house-made pastas are “standouts in a crowded field.” Seek out the garganelli verde, made with fresh spinach and served with a timeless pork ragù. And a single “earthy” bite of his farro gemelli with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, black-leaf kale, and Parmesan will tell you why Rolf and Daughters (Rolf is Krajeck’s middle name) makes my shortlist of the best new restaurants in America. 700 Taylor St., (615) 866-9897

Grassa Portland, Ore.

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Don’t be put off that this bare-bones new eatery “looks like the lunchroom at a pasta factory,” said Chris Onstad in The Portland Mercury. With its metal stools, its blocky tables, and the canary-yellow extension cords that conspicuously run from the ceiling to the pasta machines, Grassa is only trying to convey that the price of your meal is virtually all in the bowl in front of you. But the setting is “entirely comfortable” for the casual meals you’re meant to eat in it, and the pasta is so well executed that the $8–$12 price range feels steeply discounted. A generous antipasti salad—cured meats, provolone, white beans, and marinated peppers—makes a reliable appetizer: “It’s the best hoagie in town, deconstructed.” Then it’s on to the main attractions. Chef Rick Gencarelli’s mezze rigatoni with Sunday pork ragù “has the richness, roundness, and tempered sweetness that can only come from days-long preparation.” To radiatore in a braised-chicken ragù, he adds a dollop of warm ricotta and a garnish of basil and fried pork skin. At Grassa’s prices, the pasta doesn’t have to be this good. 1205 SW Washington St., (503) 241-1133

BoccaLupo Atlanta

Bruce Logue has long been Atlanta’s “prince of pasta,” said Jenny Turknett in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. After working in New York at Mario Batali’s Babbo and cooking his way across Italy, this native son won avid devotees at La Pietra Cucina when he started making a squid-ink spaghetti with shrimp, scallions, and Calabrese sausage. Thankfully, he’s brought that dish with him to his first solo venture. Housed in a midcentury bungalow in Inman Park, BoccaLupo is a restaurant to fall in love with, thanks to the “soul-settling depths” of the pastas. Logue’s 20-yolk tagliatelle, tossed with Tuscan kale kimchee and “a flurry of mushrooms,” might be the menu’s rising superstar. But the big news is that Logue has somehow managed to top his signature black spaghetti with a ramen-style version in which the noodles swim in a pork-and-beef broth alongside boiled peanuts and braised pork belly. “I’d drive across town for that dish alone.” 753 Edgewood Ave. NE, (404) 577-2332