Mangia, Mangia! We Love Fresh Handmade Pasta!

Where To Find The Best North Bay Restaurants With Handmade Pasta

Fresh pasta is a delectably tender comfort food treat. While San Francisco offers some fantastic spots to find handmade noodles, the North Bay also has an excellent selection of dining locales where one can find mouth watering pasta. Restaurant options range from homestyle neighborhood joints to more fancy fine dining Italian establishments. Here is a list of five of the North Bay's best restaurants with handmade pasta.

Aurora Ristorante is a 40-year-old family business that specializes in traditional Italian food. The family-friendly neighborhood spot serves up hearty portions of everything from pizza and pasta to risottos and soups. Handmade pasta selections include gnocchi, ravioli and wide fettuccine noodles. Make sure to sample some of the restaurant's versions of Italian favorites like veal scaloppini and eggplant parmesan. With its homey atmosphere and affordable prices, Aurora is an excellent spot to enjoy a plate of pasta and a glass of wine.

The Napa-based upscale Bistro Don Giovanni's menu is designed around locally sourced ingredients. With a commitment to food sustainability and an effort to serve free-range organic foods, Don Giovanni's has a lovely wine-country ambiance; after all, it is located adjacent to vineyards and outfitted with a dining room fireplace. In addition to enticing appetizers like fried olives and carpaccio, the restaurant serves handmade pastas such as linguine, ravioli and rigatoni. Seasonal specialties are offered based upon what is being harvested locally.

Located in the middle of a winery, Bottega is the home base of award-winning celebrity chef Michael Chiarello. The upscale restaurant specializes in artisanal housemade pastas and other ingredients such as cheeses and cured meats. Choose from rigatoni with rabbit, black garlic spaghetti, or the potato-dough ravioli. Wine selections are available from the Chiarello family vineyards, and Chef Chiarello is frequently seen mingling with guests in the dining room. Make sure to enjoy an order of the truffle fries.

Open for lunch and dinner, Ristorante La Toscana boasts an authentic Italian menu. The family-friendly restaurant offers indulgent housemade fettuccine carbonara redolent with cream, egg and bacon. Also worth a taste are the handmade gnocchi and wild boar ragu over pappardelle. Portions are generous as are other popular selections such as chicken marsala, osso bucco, tiramisu, and arancini. There is an extensive wine selection and full bar.

Located in the heart of the Napa valley, the reasonably priced Oenotri is open for lunch, dinner, and late night libations and small bites. The menu's focus is on locally sourced sustainable ingredients with as many organic ingredients as possible. Pastas are made from scratch daily, and choices run the gamut from gnocchi and strozzapreti to cannelloni and linguine with clam sauce. Seasonal options include margherita pizzas and stuffed quail.

Joanna Metheny is a freelance writer covering all things South Bay. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.