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The Seahawk

The news site of UNC Wilmington

The Seahawk

The news site of UNC Wilmington

The Seahawk

Not just another party

Lauren Clairmont | Assistant Lifestyles Editor March 23, 2013

Wings from several local eateries, cheap beer and live country music-not to mention a little friendly competition-equal out to a perfect afternoon in Carolina Beach. Or at least, the folks that headed...

Organic food is safer but not more nutritious

Roxy Simons | Staff Writer September 4, 2012

Long before Alicia Silverstone made veganism sexy, organic foods were steadily rising as a popular and healthy trend throughout the United States. After the USDA released national standards for organic...

New sports bar opens on New Center Drive

Gabriel Sutton | Contributing Writer August 27, 2012

If I told you that you could party on the deck of the USS North Carolina while drinking your favorite microbrew, eating delicious food and cheering your favorite team to victory, you'd probably think that...

AraMark Disabled Employees in the Work Place

McLeod Brown | Staff Writer March 4, 2012

Across the dining halls on campus, mentally handicapped employees can be found performing duties and jobs that go along with the protocol of running a successful college eatery. Students often acknowledge...

Italian dining takes root at Osteria Ciccheti’s

Juliane Bullard | Lifestyles Editor February 14, 2012

 

Osteria Cicchetti's main dining room displays relics that are from another time. The rustic natural wood tabletops coupled with cherry wood dining booths transport one to an era when wine was sipped from brass goblets. Rusted mirrors broken up in framed cherry wood, to match the booths, skirt the walls at mid-waist. Wine sits behind steel cages and decorating the corners of the restaurant sit stocks of wheat bunched in cream-colored ceramic urns that are as tall as a toddler reaching for the cookie jar. Columns that look like remnants of the Coliseum itself divide the room. However, the ornate columns, which look like they have been dipped in coffee to appear older than they are, are a stark contrast to the feeling in the room: comfortable informality.

           

With bare bulbs dangling from exposed pipes and two votive candles at every table, Osteria Cicchetti's makes dining at the local tavern an intimate experience. A table of UNCW professors sit in the corner, a couple whose gray hair peeks out the temples of their heads sit closely nuzzled in another, and a family with several squeaky and boisterous young children in the back room make Osteria Cicchetti's a place for all ages.

           

Within minutes a waiter fills glasses from a tall pitcher of water that is left on the table. Brought straight in the baker's pan is Italian bread still lightly dusted with flour. While the slightly scorched pan suggests warm, doughy bread just taken out of the oven, it is cold and doesn't taste authentic. However, the buttery and crispy flat bread that breaks with a sharp snap makes up for the lack-luster loafs of traditional Italian bread.  Hearty, filling and bottomless, it's not exactly what you want before courses where diets and portion control is not a priority.

           

While the endless pans of bread are dangerous for calorie counters, the cold plate is a must have appetizer. Any combination of spreads, bruschette, cicchetti, cheese, and meat is available but the soft and sharp fontina cheese is the highlight of the options. It complements the meat options and can be easily paired with the bread for a mini sandwich before the main course.

           

While the menu is full of traditional Italian meals, many of which are not commonly known, the staff is able to accurately describe and recommend entrées anyone would enjoy.

For picky eaters, the spaghetti cicchetti puts a slight spin on the traditional spaghetti and meatballs with the addition of semi-spicy Italian sausage and parmesan cheese stuffed meatballs. While the dish could have used more meat and less pasta, the overall effect of a hearty dish was achieved with lots of room for leftovers.

           

However, the most sumptuous entrée available is the rigate melanzane which boasts the most flavorful eggplant even a carnivore would drool at. The light, salty and squishy eggplant is mixed throughout the dish so that a taste of it is taken in every bite. The complexity of flavors between the eggplant and the mozzarella sprinkled over pasta shells was a delicious spin to a vegetarian meal.

           

Osteria Cicchetti's brings back menu items that seem to originate from the old country. The variety of cold plate options, portions the size of your head, and everything made fresh from local producers whenever possible, is just the beginning to what makes Osteria Cicchetti's a place to frequent again and again. Osteria Cicchetti's is Italian dining done right. 

Feast DownEast: where local food meets university demand

Lauren Clairmont | Staff Writer February 8, 2012

Today, 12 percent of UNCW's total food cost is dedicated to buying local, an initiative that in the not so distant past was not heavily pursued on UNCW's campus, but with new grassroots organization Feast...

A Taste of France on Oleander

Jessica Ferrer | Contributing Writer October 19, 2011

There are many shopping centers on Oleander Drive, but only one of them has a crêperie. Our Crepes and More… (OCM) is tucked away in one of these shopping centers, giving Oleander a bit of a French...

The new spot on campus

Jessica Ferrer | Contributing Writer September 28, 2011

It's new, it's healthy, it's got local food and it's here to stay. Look out, Hawk's Nest, there's a new restaurant in town, and it means business.The Green Spot opened the second week of classes and is...

Wilmington Hotspots

Juliane Bullard | Lifestyles Editor August 23, 2011

1. Flaming Amy's4002 Oleander DriveNumber one rule of Flaming Amy's? Lighten up. This burrito barn caters to all UNCW students who would rather pay for a six dollar burrito with extra chips and all you...

The Budget Epicureans Review: Indochine

July 4, 2011

 Solange Thompson treats herself like the empress of her own restaurant. She decorates her palace with golden statues of Buddhist goddesses, crowds its shelves with exotic knick-knacks and paints its...

The Budget Epicureans Review: La Costa Mexican Restaurant

Jeremy Smyczek | Staff Writer April 26, 2011

Each week, the Budget Epicureans visit a local restaurant or take-out, searching for quality and value. Bonus points are awarded for healthy eating options.In a perfect world, La Costa Mexican Restaurant...

The Budget Epicureans Review: The Harp

Jeremy Smyczek | Staff Writer April 20, 2011

Each week, the Budget Epicureans visit a local restaurant or take-out, searching for quality and value. Bonus points are awarded for healthy eating options.The Harp Tavern on South Third Street has a great...

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