Pacchia Prima is located Oregon District in Dayton, Oh.

Hours of operation

Tuesday through Thursday, 5:30 pm – 10 pm. Friday and Saturday, 5:30 pm - 11 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Reservations are strongly recommended.

Call for more information.

"...it was definitely worth the wait."

Dayton City Paper Article

by DCP food critic Elizabeth Rokeach

Earlier this summer, the newly revamped Pacchia Prima opened after several months spent reinterpreting the space. The location hasn't changed, but now feels more exclusive and intimate than the former dining room. One of the most breathtaking features I noticed was a light-filled display of (what our server told us was) over 10,000 glass marbles, which illuminated the mocha brown walls and made the subtle pearl effect of the capiz shell wall hangings glow.

I fully anticipated having some great wine at Pacchia, and while the wine list was impressive, at my first visit I was more excited to find (my favorite) Stone India Pale Ale — a beer with abundant hop aroma and strong flavor — on their beer list.

A perfect match for the Stone IPA was the Cozze antipasto, which was loads of steamed mussels, chopped tomatoes, and garlic in a Sambuca herb broth. The gently anise-flavored Italian liqueur gave the tender mussels a hint of spice, and long after the mussels were gone, I found myself sopping up the remaining juices with the warm, crusty house bread.

I picked the Campanelle pasta as my entrée. Too often pasta dishes are loaded up with cheese to overcome the lack of flavor in the rest of the dish. This was not the case with Pacchia's Campanelle. The floral-shaped, rustic pasta held up well against the accompanying chunky sauce of herbed roasted chicken, earthy forest mushrooms, grape tomatoes, and roasted artichoke hearts — all in a delicate and not overly cheesy parmesan lemon chicken broth.

I returned a few days later with my husband, serious this time about enjoying some wine in their fine Riedel crystalware. I sipped the Chilean Montes Malbec with both my salad and dinner. Malbec is a relatively new favorite red wine of mine. Soft, low in tannin, and exceptionally affordable since it's often produced in South America, it was easy to drink and matched virtually all of the dishes on the menu.

For my salad, I chose the Jazzy Caesar Salad. It smelled and looked delicious, topped with a few lightly battered and deep-fried calamari rings, which was an excellent touch. I was hoping for a little more anchovy flavor in the dressing, but it was silken and creamy enough, and I cleaned my plate.

I picked the Seared Halibut Filet as my entrée this time, and it came with a few (literally, two) steamed vegetables on top of a bed of sweet pea risotto with lobster sauce. The fish was evenly cooked to perfection.

Tempted by it on my previous visits, I decided to go ahead and order the $36, nine-ounce Bone-in-Filet Mignon on my most recent visit. After asking for her advice, our server expertly suggested I pair it with the Ravenswood "old vine" (which she told me meant that most of the grapes came from vines nearly 100 years old) Zinfandel — an intense, bold-flavored wine that could handle the beefy flavor of the filet.

Our server also told us that more flavor is imparted on the filet if the bone is left on, and she was absolutely right. The steak came with an espresso demi-glace, which had a nice after-effect and was not overly cloying. It was accompanied by trimmed, steamed vegetables and a Yukon Gold Potato Purée. The vegetables were fine, but the potato purée seemed to be missing the creaminess I was looking forward to in this typically comforting side dish.

For dessert, I picked the Chocolate Tasting. It included a sampling of a Chocolate Caramel Malt, a homemade Truffle, Chocolate Crème Brulee, Maple Chocolate Marjolaine, a slice of Chocolate Truffle Cake, and a couple of Chocolate Dipped Strawberries served on a large, round platter drizzled with melted white and dark chocolate.

Of the samplings, which were all heavenly, the standouts were the chocolate crème brulee (the caramelized top gave this intoxicating dessert extra oomph) and the marjolaine (layers of chocolate buttercream, ground almonds and airy cake). Between the two of us, we finished the whole thing, which causes me no shortage of embarrassment. But it was a sweet, glorious finish to a terrific meal. As a fan of the "old" Pacchia, I was sad to see it close shop for several months. As an even bigger fan of Pacchia Prima, it was definitely worth the wait.

Pacchia Prima is located in Dayton. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 pm – 10 pm. They are closed Sunday and Monday. Reservations are strongly recommended. Entrées range from $18 to $36. Call (937) 341-5050 for more information.