We close out our "Italy Week" with a meal we had a while back at "Top 33" holdout Fausto's Ristorante. (This is the "new/old" Fausto's, not to be confused with the "old/new" Fausto's.) We didn't post about the meal back then because at the time we thought it didn't represent a "normal" dining experience that readers might benefit from seeing and hearing about. This was because we are loosely acquainted with the restaurant's proprietor - Fausto Di Vora - who that night sort of chose for us what we'd be eating, and brought us some specials and combo plates that were not on the menu. (But don't worry, it wasn't a freebie; we'll leave that to the "professional" restaurant critics in town.) Also, shortly after our dinner we lost the bill and the notes we had taken during the meal, and drank enough during it we can't really remember anything other than that it was all really, really good.

But our recent trip to Italy, and some random conversations with other local fans of high-end Italian, made us realize that the meal is worth recounting, at least in hazy detail. One reason is that it's always fun and useful just to see pictures of what the food at luxury restaurants looks like. The second reason is that we'd like to encourage you to go to Fausto's and put yourself in the man's hands.

From our conversations with these other local gourmands, it seems that it only takes one or two visits to Fausto's for him to recognize you as a regular, and to suggest specials that you might think are not available to everyone who walks in off the street. Finally, according to several people we've talked to, the "chef's suggestions" at Fausto's can be taken without fear of being stuck with some insane bill - unlike in some restaurants we've been to in both Italy and Hungary. (Though note that the place is very much on the pricy side.) So here are some more pics of what we had:

Looks pretty good, no?

If anyone really wants to know what any of these dishes are we can probably get them ID'd. (We checked the current menu posted on the restaurant's website, and nothing really rang a bell.) But why not just go and tell Fausto that whatever's good with him is good with you, because we can almost guarantee it will be.