Went to Domenica for the first time, it lived up to the hype.

TL;DR version, this place is awesome.

Had a friend from highschool and his fiancee in town last night, and we decided on Domenica. No one in our group had been. I've read mostly nothing but great things, especially here, so I recommended mostly things that people here do.

We started with the roasted cauliflower, fried kale, and octopus carpaccio. The cauliflower lived up to the hype. I am not a cauliflower fan and even I enjoyed it. The whipped feta it is served with is amazing. Fried kale was very good as well. Really liked way the different flavors from the pine nuts, tomato and cheese worked with the crispy kale. I was so preoccupied I missed out the octopus, but the table said it was good as well.

Up next was a cheese board with pecorino, bianco sardo, and breaola (ribeye aged for 3 months). All three of these were a hit. In hindsight we should have gotten the big platter with the chef's selections to try even more, although I'm not sure how we would have handled more food. The board was served with savory beignets as well.

For entrees, we got 3 pizzas (two tutto carne and a prosciutto) and the clams and speck. The pizzas were probably the best I've had. The dough was simply perfect. Everything I've read about them here was exactly right. Good job F&DB.

For dessert, my wife and I got the hazelnut pudding. I was't sure what to expect with that, but it was absolutely delicious. We especially liked he big bits of hazelnut on top.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience. The group agreed that the portion sizes were pretty much perfect for everything we ordered. We left full, but not stuffed to a point of feeling it. If I had to give a complaint, it would be that the service was very lax. We ended up staying for over 3 hours, but that was fine because we were catching up. Not sure if it's always like that, but not a huge deal for our situation. Having said that, our waiter was very knowledgeable and made some good recommendations, and we never had to wait for refills on water and he always kept on eye on our drinks. Perfect for the occasion.

Total bill for all the above plus drinks for all but my pregnant wife was just under $300 before tip, which I found to be very reasonable considering the quality and the experience.

I would recommend this place to everyone, and look forward to going back.