People&Pasta already has two locations in Moscow — on Tsvetnoi Bulvar and Derbenevskaya Naberezhnaya — but the new joint on Maroseika places it firmly on the city's culinary map. The design is simple but cozy with a dark wooden interior, tiled floors and a industrial-chic light fixtures. There are a few bar stools and a handful of tables.
Founded by Dmitry Rutskoi, a doctor and owner of a drugstore chain, the brand chef is Yevgeny Levchenko, who previously worked at the French Embassy. Their career moves into the world of no frills Italian cuisine may seem a little tangental, but People&Pasta's success speaks for itself.
The traditional pasta bar takes a simple format. Pick your favorite type of pasta as well as the sauce and ingredients to go with it then order at the bar. There are five main types of pasta to chose from: spaghetti, fusilli (corkscrew-shaped), tagliatelle (long, flat ribbons), penne rigate (cylinder-shaped) and festonate (wide strips, curly at the sides).
The sauces are divided into three groups. Group A is the cheapest (310 rubles) and includes simple sauces like Pomodoro (tomato), aglio e olio (garlic and oil), arrabbiata (spicy with red chili peppers) and pesto. Pasta fresca with fresh vegetables, tomatoes and mozzarella, bolognese, carbonara, truffles and turkey make up Group B (370 rubles). Group C has more decadent ingredients like chicken and mozzarella, shrimp and spinach, beef and arugula or salmon and pesto (430 rubles).
If you're the type easily paralyzed by choice, there is also a range of set dishes including gnocchi with bacon and pesto (290 rubles), ravioli with ricotta and arugula (399 rubles) or fregula (similar to couscous) with sage sauce and shrimp for 430 rubles. And if you're planning on whipping up an Italian feast at home, you can pick up packets of uncooked pasta to go.
Complement your meal with a chilled Peroni (290 rubles per bottle) or a glass of house white (230 rubles). For those with a sweet tooth, People&Pasta offers a pretty decent tiramisu or silky panna cotta for just 190 rubles. There's also a "lent" menu that will also suit vegetarians.
People&Pasta might just be the cheapest little Italian café in town, and the food is good.
+7 (495) 621 7886
people-pasta.ru
9/2 Ulitsa Maroseika. Metro Kitai-Gorod
Contact the author at artsreporter@imedia.ru
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