Tucked away in an unassuming building in a shopping plaza on the outskirts of Westerly is one of the best Italian restaurants in the state of Rhode Island: Casa Della Luce. At the heart of the menu here are delicious pasta dishes using pasta that is hand-made fresh daily in small batches from the finest ingredients possible. There are very few restaurants these days making all their own pasta in-house, but Casa Della Luce is one of them. The house favorite, a cavatelli with sopressata made locally at Westerly Meat Packing gets sauteed broccoli rabe, garlic, olive oil and parmesan, and it is one of the best pasta dishes you will ever have outside of Italy. The texture of the cavatelli is perfect – springy and tender, and the salty-sweetness of the sopressatta (known locally here as “soupy”) perfectly offset the bitterness of the broccoli rabe.
House made cavatelli with broccoli rabe and local sopressata (known locally as “soupy”).
Owner and founding chef, Mark Lacz, also made us a fresh spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli with a decadent sun-dried tomato and cheese sauce, topped off with toasted pine nuts, that was just out of this world, bursting with flavor and savory richness.
Hand-made spinach ravioli, Casa della Luce, Westerly.
In addition to the pasta dishes, Casa Della Luce is home to some of the best NY style pizza and calzones anywhere, with wildly creative varieties like taco and cheeseburger pizzas that attract a rabid local following.
Meat pizza with soppressata, pepperoni and meatballs, Casa Della Luce.
The menu varies seasonally, and also features other dishes like steaks, fried fish and chips on Fridays, and a clam chowder topped with clam cakes that is delicous. This is Rhode Island, after all. Do yourself a favor and head on down to Casa Della Luce for some amazing, hand-made Italian food in a cozy, friendly space. And don’t miss our upcoming “South County Sampler” episode where we’ll feature Casa Della Luce plus other local gems.
For more info go to: casadellaluce.net
