Located in The Hill, the St. Louis Italian district, LoRusso’s Cucina offers diners a special experience.

Past the quaint little foyer, the owner and his wife stood at the front desk and personally showed us to our table. He greeted familiar faces, making me wish I was a regular just to receive some famous Italian hospitality. The interior is unpretentious yet subtly ornate, with paintings and hung plates that give a sense of home away from home, and with the charming pianist playing old fashioned tunes, I felt like I was at Rick’s Café in “Casablanca.”

Our meal started with “Nanna’s Stuffed Eggplant,” which was actually an entrée we ordered as an appetizer because I couldn’t decide on just one main course. Sliced eggplant was wrapped around huge meatballs baked in a marinara sauce with bits of mozzarella cheese. The giant meatballs were consistently tender throughout, almost bread-like. Luckily, the chunky tomatoes and peppery bed of sautéed spinach doused in olive oil provided wonderful flavor. The cooked eggplant had to be torn and shredded with a knife but was well worth the effort. Signature appetizers include the wild mushroom trio in a champagne Porcini cream with mozzarella crostini, and Gorgonzola cheesecake, served with olives and crostini.

Next was our primi, the penne all’arrabbiata, which was a fiery delight, but be aware that they aren’t suggesting it’s mildly spicy. The sautéed Roma tomato bits have sealed delicious acidic juices and are enhanced by bits of garlic and basil. The dish would have every component of the perfect marinara sauce were it not infused with such intense heat, though spicy food lovers would appreciate the kick.

The restaurant prepares traditional, Italian favorites, like ziti con vodka and veal Parmesan, while also providing more innovative options, such as the chicken pistachio. Torn between the butternut ravioli in an amaretto butter sauce, with ricotta and dried cherries, and the chicken pistachio, I decided upon the latter, which was sautéed and encrusted in pistachios that gave texture and a mild nuttiness to flawlessly moist chicken that was coated in a brandied peach sauce. Though slightly more sweet than savory because of the addition of sun-dried cherries and crunchy peach slices, it still easily maneuvers its way one to my list of “most favorite chicken dishes ever.”

We ended with a classic tiramisu and a dessert special—a thick layer of raspberry cream with thoughtfully added bits of real fruit, sandwiched between two layers of Devil’s Chocolate Cake, entirely coated in chocolate ganache. In retrospect, I should have passed on the pre-packaged cake mix dessert, which seems like wearing white after Labor Day. The tiramisu came out a little too frigid, and the sponge cake was steeped in what tasted like rum and amaretto. The creamy mascrapone cheese fell short in calming down the intense flavors of alcohol in the cake.

Despite the dessert, I doubt there are many things on the menu that you’d regret ordering for dinner, but I’d recommend their chicken pistachio. It redefined delicious. And chicken, for that matter.