Tagliatelle con ragu diagnello at Piccolo Forno

Dinner out with your best girlfriend is a reward in itself, but a great pasta dish makes it so much better. My friend Lisa opted for the cappelletti di gorgonzola ($18) at Piccolo Forno, but I couldn’t resist the tagliatelle con ragu di agnello ($17), a lamb dish. Long flat ribbons of spinach pasta come topped with a tender sauce made from braised lamb and olives. Julienned strips of orange zest and grated caciocavallo, a stretchy cow’s milk cheese, added nuttiness and bite. Of course there was red wine. And tiramisu for dessert. and North Siders like me are very happy to have a new spot on East Ohio Street. The interior has justright lighting above the bar and tables, with the semiopen kitchen beckoning from the back of the ground level space; a second-level event space is on track to open later this fall. I stopped by for some snacks and ended up buying a bottle of Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde ($34) for less than $40, a priced-for-regulars bottle that paired well with starters like pretzels and mustard ($6), ceviche ($8), sambal chicken ($10) and a carrot salad ($9). and then slow roasted into a thing of beauty.

Here, on Saturday they gathered in Baldwin Borough, on Churchview Farm, to be exact, for the first annual Festa della Porchetta, which pitted two teams of extraordinary local Italian chefs for their take on the dish.

Dave Anoia and Fiore Moletz of Di Anoia’s Eatery and Della Terra, respectively, put their pig up against Talia’s Steve Lanzilotti and Anthony “Pizza Tony” Giaramita of Pizza Taglio. By only two votes, the latter team — with their crispy “skin-on” porchetta — won the diner’s tabulation and the vaunted “Divine Swine” trophy, but anybody who had a plate of food won, with a spread that included polenta, rigatoni Amatriciana, Italian cheeses and all kinds of fresh peppers grown on site.