Rusticucina

Rusticucina is a new Sicilian Italian restaurant that recently opened in Hillcrest. The restaurant occupies the space formerly occupied by Sirens and Pardon Our French. The farm-to-neighborhood eatery offers from-scratch pastas, pizzas, a tableside Cheese Wheel pasta, and a full bar.

We were recently invited to check out the new eatery, which had already been high on my to-try list.

Crispy Burrata

The burrata is breaded with panko and fried, which creates a crispy shell around it. It is served with crostini and spicy pomodoro sauce. I’ve never had burrata prepared this way and really enjoyed the addition of the crispy texture.

Dry Aged Meatball

This was our favorite dish of the night. The enormous meatball was enough for three generous sharing portions. It was covered in melted mozzarella and creamy pomodoro sauce. The meatball was tender, moist and very flavorful from the use of dry-aged meat.

Chef’s Cheese Wheel Pasta

I was most excited for this dish. The dish is prepared tableside. A large cheese wheel is rolled out, the top layer is melted with a blow torch and then the pasta is tossed inside the cheese wheel until thoroughly coated in the melted cheese.

The pasta that evening was gnocchi, mixed with braised lamb and porcini mushrooms. This was such a rich dish, but quite delicious. And we loved the presentation.

We really enjoyed our food here and the service. I hope the restaurant is able to do well in this space.

Rusticucina
3797 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92103
https://rusticucina.com/dinner/

As indicated above, I was invited to dine here and our meal was complimentary. All opinions expressed are my own.