{"id":303848,"date":"2026-10-10T15:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T15:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/303848\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T15:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T15:18:15","slug":"the-best-thing-mike-klein-ate-last-week-fresh-pasta-in-rittenhouse-for-under-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/303848\/","title":{"rendered":"The best thing Mike Klein ate last week: Fresh pasta in Rittenhouse \u2014 for under $20"},"content":{"rendered":"

For fresh pasta without the fuss \u2014 or the price tag of a full-service restaurant \u2014 DaM\u00f2 Pasta Lab<\/a> in Rittenhouse is one of Center City<\/a>\u2019s best bargains.<\/p>\n

The pasta is made in-house, cooked to order, and served in a sunny, counter-service setting in the lab\u2019s 20-seat dining room. (BYOB is allowed.) The menu is also available to go. <\/p>\n

\"ChitarraChitarra Teramana at DaMo Pasta Lab, 100\u00bd S. 21st St.Michael Klein \/ Staff<\/p>\n

Much of what\u2019s here is imported \u2014 the flour, the cheeses, and even the owners: Danilo D\u2019Eugenio, from Abruzzo, and Monica Fenocchio, from Rome. (He\u2019s the Da; she\u2019s the M\u00f2.) They\u2019ve been in town since 2019<\/a>, when they opened their first location on 12th Street after falling in love with Philadelphia during a vacation trip. The 12th Street location closed last winter.<\/p>\n

Their mission is to serve pasta as Italians know it, rather than heavier, saucier Italian American versions. Consider chitarra Teramana, an Abruzzese specialty of square-cut spaghetti with a hearty tomato sauce and tiny beef meatballs perfumed by a hint of nutmeg, and topped liberally with Parmigiano Reggiano. It\u2019s spaghetti and meatballs, all right, but probably not the kind you grew up eating.<\/p>\n

\"MezzeMezze maniche alla Genovese at DaMo Pasta Lab, 100\u00bd S. 21st St.Michael Klein \/ Staff<\/p>\n

The pappardelle ai funghi pairs broad ribbons of pasta with a savory sauce of porcini and button mushrooms. There\u2019s a proper cacio e pepe, a rich tagliatelle Bolognese, and several variations of mezze maniche, the short rigatoni whose name translates to \u201chalf-sleeves.\u201d Fenocchio\u2019s own creation, pesto DaM\u00f2, takes a light, vegan approach, tossing the mezze maniche with grape tomatoes, basil, roasted zucchini, and garlic. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ve made some concessions to American tastes. You can specify your pasta\u2019s firmness and there\u2019s a build-your-own section offering such decidedly un-Italian options as Alfredo sauce, pink sauce, and chicken.<\/p>\n

\"PappardellePappardelle ai funghi at DaMo Pasta Lab, 100\u00bd S. 21st St.Michael Klein \/ Staff<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sensible compromise. Purists can explore regional Italian cooking, while everyone else can have pasta their way, and just about everything is under $20. <\/p>\n

Dam\u00f2 Pasta Lab, 100\u00bd S. 21st St., 267-951-2050, damopastalab.com<\/a>. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For fresh pasta without the fuss \u2014 or the price tag of a full-service restaurant \u2014 DaM\u00f2 Pasta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[124914,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-303848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-damo-pasta-lab-rittenhouse","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}