Cucina24

Reviews 6

A

A Private User

My boyfriend and I were driving through Asheville the first Friday in the new year and decided to stop for lunch at Cucina 24 on the recommendation of a friend. The space was very nice, low-key elegant. We were sat in the main dining area with full view of the kitchen. We shared a bowl of cauliflower soup with pistachio butter and then each had pizzas: I had the pizza Margherita, and he had pizza with fennel sausage, broccoli rabe, and pecorino. Food overall was nice; unfortunately, our experience (and thus food) was marred by the service. There was one server on the floor, and I didnt see any other front-of-house staff until we were nearly finished with lunch. Other patrons arrived for lunch not long after we were sat. Because of this, the server got busy quickly. It took a good 15 minutes to receive drinks. Our soup sat in the window for a good 8 minutes and the server walked by it several times before he brought it over. Fortunately, the wait didnt affect the soup: the soup was tasty, subtle and creamy, and thankfully still hot enough. The same couldnt be said for the pizzas. I almost went to retrieve the pizzas myself; they sat in the window for close to 10 minutes. By the time they were served, they were no longer hot. We sent them back, and of course it took another at least 15 minutes to redo the pizzas. The second round was delivered promptly, but the fennel sausage pizza was overdone (cheese was crispy on top, broccoli rabe was pretty brown and charred in places). The weird thing was that while the server was running around, we noticed 3-4 back-of-house people strolling around in the kitchen area. Having worked as a server in fine dining, I thought it was weird that there wasnt some type of contingency plan or even interest in making sure the food went out hot. If I were a chef in a nice place, I might run the food to the table myself. Eventually, another front-of-house person (manager? host?) helped out the server by watering tables, dropping off coffees, etc. Sadly, the damage was done. Our server did offer apologies and free dessert, but we had to meet up with friends so we declined. Neither the server (nor the manager/host person) saw fit at this point to take care of, say, a round of our drinks. Thus, we paid in full for an experience that included pretty ham-handed service and food not prepared very well.

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SE

Sean Morrison

Wed heard a lot of good things about the restaurant, specifically the bolognese. So, we decided to try this for our date night. We ordered the bolognese and the flatiron steak. The bolognese was good, but not great. Also, my food was clearly ready long before my wifes and it suffered for it. The steak and vegetables were lukewarm when they arrived. A number of the 2-top tables have an over-sized lamp which impedes your view of the person that you are sitting across from. Given that, we opted for seats at the kitchen counter. Yes, I recognize the irony in us opting out of seats that block our view of each other only to sit at seats purposefully facing the kitchen staff...but lets move along. It was also interesting to see that the kitchen staff were blissfully unaware of their audience as they proceeded to drop utensils on the floor then casually wipe them off (5 second rule, I totally get it) and hit each other over the head with loaves of bread that they then plated and served. I know that this stuff happens in restaurant kitchens all the time. After all, Im an expert (Ive watched Waiting twice), but I would hope that the open view of the kitchen would engender at least the facade of sanitary discipline. On the positive side, we kept staring at the bread as they would cut generous chunks from the massive loaves sitting at the kitchen counter. They would serve them with heaping piles of butter sprinkled with salt. So, we decided to order the bread to go. BEST DECISION OF THE EVENING! It paired well with some Asti and Episodes 3 & 4 of the current season of Orange is the New Black (dont judge) when we returned home. Overall, it was good to check it off the list, but Im not sure that we would go back.

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10

10101 0203030

Excellent service. The waiter went above and beyond to make sure we had clean utensils with each portion of our meal (wasnt requested) and was always helpful with giving opinions on items. We ordered the roasted duck and the veil. The food had a great plate presentation and was loaded with colors. However, the veil tasted a little too salty and the duck was a little tougher than necessary. I ordered the duck medium rare and received it medium. Mistakes happen though. The sweet potato purée greatly complemented the duck. The purée was by far my favorite part of dinner. We ordered the chocolate torte for dessert; the waiter said they make it there but it appeared to be the same as a name brand restaurant that serves reheated, frozen desserts. For $8 it was less than the size of my palm. I would probably skip out on that particular desert if I had to do it again. TLDR: Overall we greatly enjoyed the atmosphere, the service, and the food presentation. The foods presentation trumped its flavor.

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K.

K. Lawrence

I paid 50 dollars each for 2 of us to attend the cruzan rum dinner, we got there 15 minutes early to check in and no one seemed to be able to tell us where to go so they directed us to the bar, later we were taken to a room in the back where we were sat elbow to elbow with 25 or so other people, i didnt expect that at all, it was very loud and crowded only one course was actually plated, the other 3 were communal dishes split with 2 other people we didnt know. The portions were extremely small and were not enough to offset the effects of the alcohol in the 4 coctails so i couldnt even drink half of what i got, one of the drinks was a drink that we had to share with other people at the table which is unsanitary. The staff was nice and accommodateing but that is really the best complement i can give.

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DU

Duke Cola

All I can say is wow. My wife and I are Italian descent and we know what great Italian is. This place is legit. The pasta I had was litterally the best Ive ever had in my 60 yrs, and this is coming from someone who has traveled/eaten all over Italy. I had the Rigatoni All Amatriciana. Spectacular. The fresh made pasta was perfect, the sauce was perfect. Wife had the Bolognese, stole a taste of that. Amazing. What really blew me away was the wood fired baby carrots. I couldnt believe what we just experienced, dropping in on a whim, a restaurants that rivals the best of Bostons North End, and also some of the finest trattorias throughout Italy. If you are ever in Asheville, trust me, stop here and you will not be disappointed.

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A

A Private User

A fun place to eat, but deciding what to order is an ordeal. They have dispensed with a default menu, and now every day they print of a new menu. My wife and I ordered a number of smaller dishes so that we could sample a wide variety. Out of the 6 menu items that we ordered, 2 were incredible, 2 were excellent, and 2 were just okay. The proscuitto with cantalope and the watermelon with roasted olives were the two incredible appetizers. The brick oven pizza was excellent. We had a wonderful server who gave us just enough attention. I recommend you make reservations, or get there when they open to avoid the rush. We walked in, but that is probably only possible at 5 pm.

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