Messy and Picky

We went to La Fourno on a particularly cold night, and we were immediately warmed up by a brick oven hard at work. Our friendly hostess lead us past a large counter with tons of pizzas into the rear portion of the dining room which was very cozy — intimate, even! — with barely any lighting aside from candlelight bouncing off of the exposed brick walls.

The first thing we noticed about the menu was the lobster ravioli special, listed as "It don't get better than this." We took them at their word and didn't order any of it. We did, however, order an appetizer off the special menu: the farinatta bread, which was a hard (not quite biscotti-textured) chickpea flour bread. It came with roasted red peppers and sharp Italian cheese. We both pronounced it "interesting" but not excellent. We also got a basic salad with each of our meals, which comes with only the choice of oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Picky ordered the chicken valdostana which was stuffed with yummy delights, including prosciutto. Messy had the gnocchi gorgonzola, which came in a humongous portion. Messy unwisely ate all of it, save for a few bites by Picky, and suffered from severe agita afterwards. It was tasty, but Messy isn't the biggest fan of gnocchi, although she is a huge fan of gorgonzola (Picky loves gnocchi!).

Our meal was supplemented by a gift certificate from 12th St Gym when Messy re-joined for a year using Picky as a referral - they give out dinner for two vouchers with each referral. But you won't need to worry about cost too much, everything is reasonably priced. Our entrees combined were under $30.

Messy ****
Picky ****

The final word: Cozy, yummy Italian food in the middle of a bustling South Street block.

La Fourno
636 South St
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 627-9000
Mon - Thur: 11.30am - 10pm
Fri - Sat: 11.30am - 11pm
Sun: 12.30pm - 10pm