Anyone who has had the misfortune of calling himself my friend for any considerable length of time has heard my complaints about the Grove’s restaurants.

Some spots, like Greenstreet and Lulu’s, aren’t really meant to be restaurants at all, and any attempt to criticize their food is about as naïf and beside-the-point as that curious moment in the Miss America pageant when someone asks the beauty queens to defend their political philosophy. Other spots, like That-One-By-Taurus (it has a new name every time I look up, yet always the same abominable food), have no such excuse.

When Strada opened, the Grove faithful cried for joy. Within a month, the bar teemed with neighborhood regulars. They haven’t stopped since. Strada makes careful, thoughtful food in the enoteca style – with good ingredients and simple ideas.