Osteria Sfizio

Warm, sugar-crusted doughnut "pillows" with creme anglaise for dipping.

On the recommendation of Jennifer over at Culinaria Eugenius, my friend, Laura, and I stopped into Osteria Sfizio in Eugene for lunch a while back.  I don't pretend to be a food critic and I only write about places I like (Thumper's rule), but this sleek, modern restaurant in the Oakway Center near Trader Joe's is too good not to blog about.  A bit spendy (I don't often spend $25 on lunch and that was my half of the bill!) but worth every penny.

We started off with the asparagus soup and long, thin, crispy breadsticks, then Laura ordered the wild mushroom ravioli in a brown butter and sage sauce and I chose the elk lasagne bolognese with bechamel sauce.  We decided to split an order of roasted root vegetables.  Both entrees were out-of-this-world--we shared, of course.  And I'm not even much of a mushroom fan.  The pasta is made in-house using flour milled in Pendleton and local eggs.  They use as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible, always a plus and worth paying extra for.

The root vegetables--carrots, parsnips, turnips (or maybe they were rutabagas?) were roasted to perfection and seasoned with black pepper and a dash of honey.  I definitely want to try to duplicate those at home.

For dessert there were several interesting choices, but we decided to split an order of the "Sfizio Doughnuts" (pictured above) and enjoyed every bite.

Osterio Sfizio is worth the drive to Eugene for a special-occasion dinner.  They also offer brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, which I look forward to trying next time I'm in Eugene for the weekend.