Want to eat a pound of pasta? Bring your appetite to Rustico's, a new Italian restaurant having its grand opening on Friday in the Essex Shoppes and Cinema.

Rustico's focuses on familiar Mediterranean dishes prepared using local ingredients. Area farms provide ingredients for salads, flatbreads and sauces to the Vermont Fresh Network restaurant. Pastas can be ordered by the quarter, half or full pound, making it easy to share a family-style meal.

So what are the options? I'm looking forward to trying the pear, walnut, gorgonzola and garlic flatbread. I'll get the "Tour of Italy" my first time, so I don't have to decide between the housemade papardelle, tagliatelle  or linguine with pomodoro, basil pesto or Bolognese sauces: The dish includes samples of them all.

There are also meatball, chicken Parmesan and Italian sandwiches, all of which are served with homemade potato chips. Dessert presents "Big Chocolate Cake for Two" and crème brûlée cheesecake. According to General Manager, Terry Raphael Murphy, there's a wide variety of Italian wines and local beers available at the antique bar.

Can't wait until Friday for your taste of Italy? There's a soft opening today.