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Il Sogno Osteria
Rating Details »
9 reviews for Il Sogno Osteria
Ideally, I would give Il Sognio a 4.5 rating. So torn. To be fair, I do think this is probably the best restaurant in San Antonio (at least in my limited experience of living here for 2 months/eating out about 6 days a week during renovations).
DECOR easily rates 5 stars. Very cool and clean; industrial with a perfect hint of elegance. A fabulous wine bottle chandelier inspired me to google DIY wine bottle chandeliers (FYI, more complicated than it looks). Men's bathroom is upstairs, which is a little weird but, as a lady, doesn't bother me much. ;)
FOOD-- I have now had three meals here.
1) BREAKFAST: The most perfect meal I have had at this restaurant. The tiny menu is beautiful in its simplicity. [Please note: the breakfast menu has a variety of vegetarian options, but no vegan options.] I had the coddled eggs with truffle oil (no bacon) -- which were truly amazing. Very simple, yet decadent. The honeydew juice was spectacular and the quality of the individual french press coffees actually prompted me to buy a French press.
2) LUNCH: The Il Sogno salad was very good. Light w/ an interesting herb dressing that defied immediate categorization. The pasta in a simple tomato sauce was good, not great. I took half of the huge portion home and never finished it. The nutella tart was also good, but after the rumors I was expecting something out of this world.
3) DINNER was a perfect summation of the amazing, good and not-so-good elements of Il Sognio. We showed up around 7:15 on a Saturday night; the extremely hot and hip hostess told us there was an hour wait. To be honest, I kind of like the foodie-devotee aspect to this (i.e. no matter who you are, you have to wait if you want to eat here). So we ordered a lovely bottle of sparkling wine, which was presented to us by someone who said, "Is this ok? I can't speak Italian, so I can't say the name of it."
After only about 20 minutes, we were seated and perusing the menu. Our server was very nice, seemed a little green but definitely deserved an A for effort. When we explained that we were veggie, he went out of his way to explain the best veggie options on the menu (of which there were many).
To begin, I had the caprese salad which was, no exaggeration, the best I have ever had (including every time I have had this dish in Italy, New York and Russia - which, weirdly enough, had possibly the most phenomenal Italian restaurant I have had the good fortune to visit). I think the pinenuts really clinched it. My "paramour" had the (massive) wild mushroom flatbread, the perfection of which mere words could never capture. After the first course, we were both in foodie dreamland and eagerly anticipating the next course. (Although not so eagerly as we would have been if the first course had been smaller. Do your waistline a favor and share. Two dishes amongst three or four people would have been fine.)
After we finished the champagne, we each ordered a glass of wine to accompany the next course. Here I encountered a major problem with the sommelier. I don't mind spending a lot of money on a nice bottle of wine, but when I do, I prefer that the proper etiquette to be followed. The glasses of wine we ordered were $20 apiece. The sommelier brought over an opened bottle and poured me a taste, then a glass. The wine was delicious, well worth the price. However, when the sommelier poured my boyfriend's glass, there was not enough to fill the glass. He left, came back with a new bottle and was about to just pour the new bottle into the glass that was half-filled with the opened bottle. I actually had to stop him and ask for a new glass, which he reluctantly supplied. He actually said to me, "I knew you were going to call me out on that." It was all very unprofessional and I couldn't tell if a) HE didn't know better, b) he thought WE wouldn't know better or c) he just made a mistake and refused to apologize for it. Again, it's not a big deal, it just made this part of the meal a little uncomfortable. Also, after we'd been sipping our wine, he came by and said, a little snippily, "Well, I think it's much better after it's been opened for awhile."
The next course was disappointing. I had the gnocchi, which had a slightly gluey texture and none of the airiness I had been craving. The serving was also immense and crazy cheesy.
Dessert: The tiramisu was excellent, but I was too full to enjoy it properly.
Disclaimers: Since we don't eat animals, I cannot comment on the majority of the menu. I have to say that the people sitting around us appeared to enjoy their dead animal dishes immensely. ;) The noisy guy sitting next to us (who repeatedly talked to us and everyone seated around him in very carrying tones) said that the chicken was the best chicken he'd ever had. Also, we've never tried the antipasti or the cheese platter, which are apparently two high points on the menu.
All in all, this is a fabulous restaurant. I expect great things.
Visited this piece of Andrew W.'s small empire today for lunch. Beautiful restaurant, upstairs and patios. White paper down on top of white line, and the Exec Chef and Owner in te kitchen.
Greats: a visible selection of at least a dozen antipasti for the day that guests have the benefit to look at and choose at least 5 or up to 7. $12 at most. Our server, Nicole, chose seven of the best. The goat cheese, eggplant puree, roasted tomato/pine nuts/capers, rstd veggie ribbons, and the cannellini/tuna confit were some of my favorites. The other app, Mozzarella Burrata (stuffed fresh mozz ball with mascarpone cheese and capers) was perfect, unforgetable. The entrees, pork scallopine and the house made gnocchi bolognese was on the spot. Service was right on, I've only seen this at a few other places I've been in Austin and one former workplace for me. Sommolier, service assistants, and servers all helped one another out. Can't wait for Chef to open/move Sandbar nearby, and develop near La Reve. Great job Chef, keep it up. Come to Austin.
Cons: not a biggie, men's washroom upstairs; elevator or outside staircase? Everything else, memorable. I'll be telling everyone here in Austin that's one of the top three for me in SA!
I wish I could give a negative star rating for Il Sogno.
I would give Il Sogno negative five stars.
This past Saturday I was taking my guest for a birthday dinner.
I call before hand and try to make a reservation but they do not accept reservations. I am fine with that in that I can show up and enjoy a glass of wine while waiting for a table.
But I get there with my dinner guest at 8:00 p.m. and was greeted by a host and he was completely smiling from ear-to-ear. But the smile was not to show a warm greeting-- I was promptly told "I'm sorry we aren't serving anyone else this evening." I said I was happy to wait and with a broad smile told "there were no tables available." I asked if perhaps eating at the bar was an option--it was my guests birthday and we were both from out-of-town. Again and "NO" and a smile.
I was then surprised after leaving seeing two couples enter the restaurant and they were not turned away. I waited to see if they were turned away also and they were not.
I have never been treated so rudely in the hundreds of restaurant experiences anywhere in the U.S. or abroad--I have never experienced the treatment I received at Il Sogno anywhere. I would not go back under any circumstances and want to let everyone know how Il Sogno selectively treats it's guests. I do regret giving any patronage to Andrew Weissman's restaurants.
Having read the reviews, I am surprised at the negativity towards this place. They are still working out the kinks as this is still the soft opening which, by the time I write this, may be over. Nevertheless, this is Andrew and Maureen's place which makes it another Star in the San Antonio rest. scene.
We, a family, were honored to have dinner in the third night of the opening of this wonderful place. My husband compared it to and says that it surpasses, Arzac and The French Laundry in quality and taste. The Bismark pizza is the way to go for a start at dinner. We also enjoyed the fried chickpea and as an entree, the ravioli.
For a quick and delicious gourmet meal, as we had just arrived back to SA from CO, we were thrilled and will be there for breakfast on Sunday (8.17). Any wait for Weismann and his crew is worth it, especially when we are home in Texas.
Had a great lunch there today. The antipasti bar is unlike anything I have ever seen. You can get three choices for $6 or 6 for $12. I had the best eggplant I have ever tasted in my life. Bagna Cuda with roasted red pepper was also off the charts. After the antipasti, I had a very nice asparagus salad with truffle sauce, poached egg (a tiny bit overcooked for my taste), bacon, and this amazing salty cheese. A nice glass of white wine topped it off.
At least for lunch, anticipate small plates of interesting things rather than a regular meal. Kind of like being a judge for Iron Chef with a cool, relaxing atmosphere.
Now for the not so wonderful. My server was a very friendly and attentive guy. But when he started talking about the terroir of the wine that he had never tasted (and I'm pretty sure he had never been to that part of Italy), I almost barfed. Kinda pretentious. And another thing. I didn't like their focaccia. Too soft and spongy and kinda bland tasting. If you are going to go to the trouble of making your own bread, put a little more oomph into it.
It is true that they don't take reservations so you are either going to have to suck it up and wait or get a burger at Sam's across the street.
I don't think you will find a better option for lunch in San Antonio. I'll let you know how dinner goes soon. Or maybe Sunday brunch. I am looking forward to sitting on the patio when it gets cooler.
I've been eagerly awaiting Il Sogno, and it's finally open! We went on Saturday for breakfast and were the first diners. I had the coddled eggs, my husband had the speck and provolone panini, and we split a french press and the bread basket.
The food took awhile to come out, but it was their first few days of opening. The eggs were fantastic and came with bacon and toast. The panini was very cheesy. The bread basket was fantastic and allowed us to take advantage of the Nutella, honey and fig jam on the table.
On the decor: very industrial with concrete floors and bare walls. The kitchen is open with a few bar seats so you can watch what's cooking in the kitchen. Breakfast is served family-style, with two long tables.
We went back for dinner the next day with another couple. We started with the duck flatbread and the bismark pizza. Both were fantastic, although I would have liked more duck. Then, we had the hog ragu, rabbit, and scallops. The scallops were good, but not fantastic. The rabbit was dry and a bit disappointing. But the ragu was AMAZING. I've never had hog, and this was so good. I would get this again. The next table got the half-chicken and fries, and it smelled so good.
They didn't have their liquor license yet, so they just gave us wine! The service was very friendly and attentive without being overbearing. Then we moved onto the cheese plate, which we let our server choose. Also good. The tiramisu and napoleon desserts completed the meal.
All in all, a great, affordable fine dining option in the Pearl Brewery. Salud!
If Andrew Weissman's other restaurants are as good as this, then I definitely need to try them out!
Il Sogno was a last-minute decision for late Sunday brunch. And boy am I glad we chose to eat here. We were warmly greeted and welcomed, then seated right away. I hear dinner gets more hectic, though. Anyway. The decor is bright and almost spartan, very clean lines, and echoing Pearl Brewery's history, they have a beer bottle chandelier. Kudos to our server for answering all our questions and helping us choose our appetizers/entrees: it took us forever! I finally decided on the mozzarella burrata, while my bf had the rucola mushroom salad. His salad was light and crisp, while mine was perfectly cheesy with sweet tomatoes and nice balsamic vinegar to offset. For entrees I got the famous Margherita Pizza ( we are told that if you order it for dinner at 5:30 pm, you get it at that price, $5.31, and the price increases as the night goes on...!), while bf got the gnocchi, which he never had before. Both excellent. Dessert was tiramisu and bunet, we will try the famous nutella tart next time. I am impressed by this restaurant and highly recommend it to Italophiles everywhere.
Let me start by quoting an ancient maxim, "Haters gonna hate." It's just a fact of life. You know these people: the ones that complain at McDonald's because there is too much (or too little) ketchup on their $1 double cheeseburger? Yeah. That's them. They make life difficult for the rest of us, and by "the rest of us" I mean "People who go to Yelp looking for insights on restaurants where they're considering dining."
What the am I talking about? Simple. There are multiple one-star reviews for Il Sogno, a restaurant that is, quite simply, the best restaurant in San Antonio (I'm leaving a certain "Dream" out of the rankings here, because I can't afford to dine there more than once a decade). This makes me angry. There is NO call for a one star rating for this restaurant. If it is 8 p.m., and you go to a restaurant with more hoopla surrounding it than Kim Kardashian's love life-a restaurant that's been open literally two weeks-and you found that the line was so long waiting to get a table that the host had the decency to turn you away rather than have you sit around for three hours waiting for a meal that was never going to happen, you should be THANKFUL. Give the place four stars for doing you a service! Better yet (wait for it . . .), don't post a review on Yelp until you have actually DINED at the restaurant in question! /rant
So, how was my meal? Spectacular.
We walked in at the stroke of 6 p.m. (Saturday night, mind you), and were seated immediately. [Take note, everyone. Revolutionary, I know, but this is what I call a "Pro Tip": show up early, if you want a seat at the hottest restaurant in town.]
After pouring water (shielding the pour with a napkin, so as to avoid the remote possibility that one get splashed with an errant droplet), we were offered our choice of citrus slices for the water. Class move, there.
We were waiting on two more to join us, so I took the opportunity to talk about wine with the sommelier (sorry, man, I have no idea what your name is) -- the one who is not Frenchy. I gave him vague ideas of what I was looking for in a white, and he picked a wonder Veneto at $24(!), and then asked him to help me choose between two of the less expensive Nebbiolos on the list. He steered me to the lower-priced one. Again, class move. (And the wine was perfect.) It's a really great wine list. No matter what style/price you're trying to hit, you'll be taken care of by them. Absolutely wonderful job by the whole team there.
Working with the server came next, and she was great too. Again, sorry, I don't know the name, but she had sort of a dread-chignon for you to look out for. She helped guide us through the menu, and never once made an obvious upsell attempt. (Please take note all San Antonio restaurants: upselling isn't a crime, but when done badly, it is tacky and obvious. Make it stop!)
How was the food? Great. We started with the antipasto, which is a screaming good deal at $12 for five nice portions of fun (mixed seafood salad was a standout, as were the cured meats and white bean spread). And folks, I could be wrong here, but I bet if you asked politely for more crostini, they'd throw some your way. (We had plenty, though...)
Next up was a Pizza Margherita ("Market Priced" based on what time you're there, so 6:00=$6, 7:00=$7, etc.) and a Lardo Foccacia. The pizza was right on. In the same vein of quality as Dough is turning out, but this one is a steal at $6. The foccacia was good. The lardo was lightly porky with a good hit of salt cure. I'd prefer if the lardo were sliced more thinly, because I found the long strands of it somewhat difficult to manage in the process of tearing the foccacia to pieces, but whatever. It was still very good, and I'm looking for nits to pick here.
Finally we did the squid/ink risotto, a fresh sardine special, and seared scallops. The risotto was great, but be warned, it has a punchy, briny taste to it, that I'm not sure that everyone would love. And I would not want to eat a whole dish of it by myself. As it was though, it was great shared amongst the four of us. The sardines were simply grilled and served with lemon, olive oil, olives, and cherry tomatoes. I was very happy with it (I love oily fish), but the texture was a bit mushy--I think it can probably be blamed on the fish itself (not weird at all for such a fish to by soft textured), but In a perfect world, the meat would have had a bit more structure to it. The scallops were very good, seared perfectly, then hit with some bright lemon, and accompanied with capers, caperberries, and a braised (?) carrot that tasted like a sweet potato.
We ended with a cheese course with perfectly handled cheeses, but I wish we could've had more guidance in choosing them (better labeling, at least?). Finally we all shared a nutella tart that ended things on a good note.
So folks, take many grains of salt on Yelp. Just go to Il Sogno. You'll love it. Unless you're a hater. If you are, just stay away. Thanks.
Very pricey lunch. We had a very pretty arugula salad with a slice of goat cheese with capers stuck in it, and we had five of their antipasto items. We were shocked at the health code violations at their unrefrigerated antipasto table. You can't leave meats in oil and other items out at room temperature without risking botulism. Only the red bell pepper mixed with garlic mayonaise was notable. We also had the Atomic Pizza. It was ok, but the pepperoni had a funky leather or old bacon taste. Decor was sparse, but neat, and our server was very good. We looked at the wine list, but did not recognize any of the names as they were all Italian. They seemed rather pricey, so we had tea.