Time really has flown. It’s really hard for me to believe that I’ve been here for close on 13 years. I spent 23 years in New York City and surrounds, following college, and it seemed like I was there forever. Here, I feel like I’ve only been here a short time still, and more than half the same amount of time has zipped by. Before I know it, I’ll have hit that same 23 years here!

All that leads up to, it’s been a whopping 12 years since I reviewed Il Matterello, Martí­n Rodrí­guez 517 in La Boca. At the time, I declared it the best pasta I’d found in the city. Of course, I’d only been here for 10 months at the time, and I’ve gone on to find other great pasta places. And although I went back several times in those early years, 2006-2008 or so, at some point, it dropped off my circuit of places to go to. I have given a couple of tries to their Palermo branch, with less successful results, which might be part of it – the ambiance, service, and food quality at the Palermo one didn’t approach the La Boca one. Interestingly, I mentioned this to our waitress on this visit, whose response was, “I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve heard that”. Something the owners might want to take note of.

It seemed time for a revisit and new review, so I put it on the table for the Roving Ravenous Horde’s 23rd outing. A potential six folk whittled down to three on the day of, so we tried fewer dishes than I’d hoped. But just to clue you in, I, probably we, will be back for more.

My two lunch companions were running late, so I ordered up some of those wonderful stuffed and fried olives that I’ve liked on past visits. Still as good as ever. Three years ago at the Palermo site I mentioned how pricey they were, at 94 pesos for 8 olives – today, they’re 190 pesos. Then again, the peso was devalued by more than half, so in “real world” terms, they’re basically the same price. Still, that’s basically $1.15 per olive. They do take a lot of work to stuff and fry (in reality, they’re more like small meatballs surrounded by an olive and then fried), and they are amazing, and when my friends arrived, they ordered up another plate of them, but those are some expensive olives.

We decided to just order three different styles of pasta and share – it seemed the easiest way to approach it with just three of us. And, the choice was left up to me.

The famous tortelli bianchi, in garlic butter with whole garlic cloves is as good as ever. Perhaps lacking a touch of salt this time around, but that was an easy fix. (320 pesos) I would have ordered the creamy, gratineed tortelli verdi, but…

…I’d decided on the fazzoletti alla carbonara, and one creamy sauce seemed enough. I think this was the favorite pasta for all three of us. Amazingly delicate, and the carbonara sauce pretty much perfect. (310 pesos)

And, trofie alla putanesca, the pasta being more or less short fussili, handrolled, in a decently zesty and even a touch picante sauce. (280 pesos)

A couple of desserts to share – a quite good tiramisu, interestingly made with vanilla ice cream rather than whipped cream, and an affogato, more vanilla ice cream, swimming languidly in a shot of espresso. Okay, maybe a bit too similar to each other, but both well worth the indulgence post-pasta.

Put this place back on my circuit, and it should be on yours, it’s well worth the visit into La Boca, and hey, you could pair it with a stadium visit, it’s just a couple of blocks away. Still a pretty room, excellent service and even more excellent pastas. It stays on my list of favorite Italian casual restaurants – casual because of the style, rather than cost. It’s expensive, but it’s an expense that’s worth it. All told, with two bowls of the olives, three pastas, two desserts, three glasses of wine, and two bottles of water, we racked up a tab of $2353, or about $115, before tip, and a big thank you once again to Steven, who picked up the tab as a thank you for putting together the RRH lunches!