I absolutely love it when an appetizer is so large and tasty it can serve as your main meal, however what I distaste is when the appetizer is so large, but your server doesn’t tell you, and by the time you realize it you have already ordered a main entree. It’s kinda like some sorta tasty trickery that doesn’t let you maximize your dollars until your next visit.

I carry a great deal of adulation for restaurants that allow their appetizers to give what it is supposed to give. Appetizers are supposed to be a tasty debut, that exordium speaks to how the service is going to be, how the food will be presented, and is the dish piquant enough to leave you longing for more.

LaScala’s Fire in Villanova, Pennsylvania has truly grabbed hold of one of my favorite phrases which is “simplistically profound.” When something is simplistically profound there is not a lot of pomp and hardly any circumstance, yet it is the building on those simple items that make the dish absolutely profound. First up was the LaScala Fries, see I told you it reads simple, but I tell you when they add old bay to those piping hot fries, some generously chopped bacon, jumbo lump crabmeat, you are entering into the territory of the profound, but they didn’t stop there, they took it a step further and added some long hots for a nasal opener, and some provolone cheese sauce, and now you have created something savory, spicy, a little briney from the crabmeat, and a little excessive with the creamy and warm cheese, and with the old bay seasoning just to serve as a reminder that old bay is the proper accompaniment to any seafood.

This appetizer was substantial in size, it was filling, simply put it was delicious. After eating this appetizer, I really did not need an entree, I could have gone home happy and full with no complaints, but because I was slightly duped as to what I was getting into, I had already ordered the Seafood Fra Diavolo Linguini with shrimp, calamari, mussels, clams, crabmeat, and spicy tomato sauce. This is a work for your food type of meal, I had to take the clams and mussels out of the shell, and remove the tails from the shrimp; the tomato sauce was thin, so there was no clinging to the linguini. The tomato sauce had the consistency of a broth, which is good for dipping bread, but not hefty. Yes they sprinkled some crabmeat atop, but inside of the brothy sauce the delicate crabmeat got lost and didn’t deliver the taste a crab has the potential to deliver, thank God I had that appetizer. The seafood was fresh, the linguini cooked to perfection, and the broth modest in taste. The portion was generous, so much so that I was able to take my leftovers home, which afforded me the opportunity to doctor it up with some of my own seasoning and parmesan cheese for nuttiness and thickness, so it moved that dish from modest to yummy.

LaScala’s Fire I have every intention on returning, but probably for appetizers only and possibly an entree to take home. The decor was sheik, the server was charming, and the atmosphere just allowed me to relax and for my palate to be gratified, well done LaScala’s Fire, well done🍽