Luci Ancora

Execution of each plate was great. Very fresh ingredients. For my friend's birthday, my girlfirend and I took my friend and his wife to Luci Ancora last night. My girlfriend and I had been there once before but it had been a couple of years. It was date night at Luci. The four course taster's meal was only 20.00 each.

First course was fried polenta cake with a thick basil pesto. The polenta was a tad bland, however it usually is. The bed of pesto was very flavorful and tastfully dense which more than made up for the polenta.

Second course was a mixed green salad with gorganzola, white grapes raisins, and a champaigne vinaigrette. The Vinaigrette was ok. It was not tarte enough to offset the sweetness of the white grapes and the pungency of the cheese, but the greens were a mix of frize, arugala, red vine spinach...and a couple others, which made for a nice presentation.

The pasta was next. It was rigatoni with broccoli, red peppers and parmesan cheese. It was tastefully modist in comparison with the first half of the experience, but I couldn't have asked for better execution.

About 2 hours into the night, the main course hits all four sides of the table. Fillet of halibut atop a bed of reduced red peppers, roma tomatoes, and fennel bulb.

This plate was perfect. Perfectly grilled, perfectly portioned fillet of fresh halibut laid out on a bed of very tender vegies that matched the delicate flavor of the fish perfectly. Will attempt to duplicate.

Vanillia bean creme brule and a very dark chocolate torte finished us out in a very fashionable way.

The pasta and the fish redeemed any misques from the previous two plates.

Service was rather remarkable. Everything was timed well. The table was a bit small and the chairs were nothing special, but that didn't seem to hinder the dining experience too much.…

My favorite restaurant in the Twin Cities!. Luci Ancora is growing to be one of my favorite restaurants in the twin cities area. I went a few years ago and again last night and both times the service, food, wine and desserts have been excellent. On Tuesday's and Thursday's they offer a special for 2 people the 4-course "sampler" (which is more than enough food for one person) is only $20 a person! This sampler varies from night to night, but I can imagine you could call and ask what it is that evening.

This place is very small, so make sure to make reservations ahead of time if you want to be guaranteed a seat. The ambiance is beautiful, with a real fireplace, and the bathrooms are very nice and clean.

The food selection here is northern Italian, so it's a heavy based off seafoods. Last night our final course was Halibut and it was cooked perfectly. I don't know if I've ever had a better cooked piece of fish before, it was amazing.

I also love that they list the farms where they receive their food from. This is a local restaurant that gets their food from local farmers!

Check it out, if you go on a Tuesday/Thursday the prices are fabulous!…