La Spezia is a cozy neighborhood restaurant found on Sct. Lazcano, and it’s been the go-to for those searching for quality and authentic Italian cuisine in the Quezon City area. Founded by Sean Yuquimpo and Aaron Shiu, they’ve been at it for a decade now, inspired back then by the memorable meals they had in the coastal town of La Spezia, gateway to the popular tourist destination, Cinque Terre. The funny inside story is that Aaron was trained in French cooking, but for this chef-driven dining concept, they opted to go Italian.

Surviving ten years in the highly competitive Metro Manila restaurant scene is an achievement in itself, and La Spezia even expanded to have a BGC branch, but that was recently rebranded to Maranola, which is a pricier, fine-dining concept. La Spezia is the one with a light, homey ambiance, and the attentive staff has made it a true favorite for its regulars.

My eldest son, Quintin, lives in the area and has been to La Spezia before, so I was happy to have him as my guide to what dishes are the must-try if having lunch there for the first time.

For our starter/antipasti, we shared the Salsiccia Italiana, which is their homemade sausage roll on a brioche, with onion puree and some salad. We added the option of black Alba truffles, and these shavings were done tableside, adding a somewhat indulgent aspect to the dish. We weren’t complaining, though, as the starter was a great choice.

The first primi dish we had was the Pasta di Capesante. Served with Hokkaido scallops, dried Japanese scallop emulsion, spices, and 18-month Parmigiano-Reggiano, this one is deceptively simple, as it looks like it’s just the plump scallops that sit on the bed of pasta, but little morsels of scallop are also embedded in the al dente noodles, thanks to the emulsion. Loved this one, and it was an immediate contender for favorite dish of the lunch.

We also ordered the Aglio Pesca, which is clams, shrimp, and squid with garlic in EVOO chili flakes, and 18-month Parmigiano-Reggiano. This would best be described as a vongole that’s been pumping iron and decided to bring its barkada along for the ride. The addition of the chili flakes took this dish in its own direction, and I appreciated how La Spezia was saying we won’t find this exact dish anywhere else in the Manila dining landscape.

The secondi/main course we opted to share was their pork Milanese. It’s a brined French-cut pork chop, served with apple salad and EVOO. Good for two to three persons, I loved the thin but crispy breading of the Milanese-style preparation, and how it readily separated from the tender pork slices. The apple salad complemented the pork chop beautifully, making the pork seem less sinful, not that I frown on sinful.

We had two of the La Spezia desserts: the flan, which is Yssa’s flan with passionfruit, and the salame di cioccolato. The flan is bursting with flavor, thanks to the passionfruit and the caramelized, burnt top of the flan. I really liked how you could crack this top and have shards or fragments with each bite.

The salame di cioccolato is as described, like a log of salami, but what we have is dark chocolate, biscuit, pistachio, and sesame seeds. Just reading those ingredients will make your taste buds quiver if you’re a lover of chocolate. The quality of the dark chocolate is to die for, not sweet and cloying, but still rich and creamy.

Whether at La Spezia or Maranola, one is assured of the high quality of ingredients used, and how the Italian dishes on the menu have been carefully curated to make each dining experience one that will have you dreaming of when you’ll return. The 10 years of La Spezia come as no surprise.