Serena Pastaficio, (pasta factory, in Italian), is a scratch kitchen for house-made pasta, small plates and grilled fresh fish. Within Boca’s IPIC Theater, Serena is a surprise. An oversize bar, intimate lounge and breezy patios host weekday Happy Hour, 3-6, with small plates NOT offered on the dinner menu: Cannelloni crepe shells filled with ricotta, spinach and wild mushrooms in a creamy pool of porcini mushroom and Scamorza cheese; and Spiedini (skewered Italian kabobs), grilled citrus-marinated lamb with Calabrian chili and honey balsamic.
Contemporary Serena offers a unique dinner menu. Apps include Fried Calamari and Artichoke with Salmoriglio, southern Italian lemon-herb-olive oil emulsion; roasted Spanish Octopus with smoked potato crema and arugula salad; and braised veal/pork/ricotta meatballs in house-made tomato sauce with grilled crostini. Italian Salad has wafer-thin slivers of sun-dried tomato, artichoke, Cerignola olives, and shaved Ricotta Salata in sherry vinaigrette, and Arugula Salad has smoked Scamorza cheese, Cerignola olives, and pickled cipollini onions in balsamic. Don’t miss grilled 16-oz. bone-in Ribeye with toasted fennel-herb butter baste and herb-marinated whole Branzino in vermouth butter with grilled leek, fennel and Meyer lemon. Flavor and texture are taken seriously here! Next time: Pasta! Pasta!
