Possibly one of the best Italian meals I’ve had. Ever. And not enhanced, at all, by the fact that Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn were sitting less than 20 feet away from us.
Angie Harmon was at the same restaurant as I was. And we didn’t even realize it until we were leaving.
Now, I’m not sure what she ate for dinner that night, but what my fellow diners and I had was a pleasure to the palate.
We started with salads and meatballs. What? You didn’t know four perfectly sized, perfectly seasoned, perfectly perfect meatballs could be an appetizer? Well, they can be. And they were. A mixture of beef, veal, cheese, heavy cream, herbs and spices (and, as one of my friends said, “a little bit of heaven”). Topped with a bright red marinara and shaved piave vecchio, the four healthy sized meatballs were a great way to start off the meal. Obviously, ordering the meatballs as an app allowed me to indulge in their deliciousness while freeing up my entrée options since I no longer felt obligated to order the spaghetti and meatballs.
I wonder if Angie Harmon had some meatballs.
Pre-entrée, my dinner pals and I also had salads. Two of them had the Vivace seasonal salad, which was a rainbow on a plate. Loaded with grapefruit, oranges, goat cheese, spiced walnuts atop mixed greens, served with a lemon honey vinaigrette. For a cold day in January, this was a refreshing treat, summoning visions of summer and sunshine, not slush and bitter winds.
I shared a Caprese salad with a friend. It was delicious. A take on the tradition tomato, cheese, and basil setup, this salad came before us slightly altered. The tomatoes were roasted and slightly charred. The tanginess of the tomatoes was nicely offset by the slight char from the roasting; this choice of preparation also allowed for the tomatoes to retain their moisture and remain decadently juicy (which may not have been the case had we gotten regular, plain old boring sliced tomatoes out of season). Instead of leaves of basil littering the plate, these tomatoes were covered with a perfect basil pesto. And, the mozzarella–soft and buttery and served in perfect proportion to the tomatoes and pesto.
On to the entrees!
Because I had gotten my taste of the meatballs with my brilliant appetizer selection, I opted for the pappardelle alla Bolognese. The thick, ribbon-like pasta was covered generously with the savory Bolognese. And an added bonus? The goat cheese crema (when is goat cheese ever a bad addition, really?) and more of that delicious piave vecchio. The best thing about this dish was that you could get it in two portion sizes. I opted for the smaller one and finished every last morsel and was quite sated. Had I ordered the bigger portion, I would have probably finished every last morsel, as well, so as not to let any go to waste.
We had two orders of the spaghetti and meatballs arrive at the table. Usually considered a favorite among the much younger set, this was enjoyed by my 30-something friends with as much glee as if they were 5-year-olds. The meatballs on top of the spaghetti were a tad bit larger than the appetizer portion and were a generous quantity (five!). The sauce, while labeled on the menu as “tomato sauce” is, in fact, a little bit creamy. The spaghetti is a bit thicker than your average spaghetti, allowing the sauce to stick to it heartily. The secret to ordering this—and to jazz it up and make it a bit more adult—is to order it with a few shakes of red pepper flakes. The difference is dramatic.
The final entrée for the table was the chili-capellini and lump crab. One word: amazing. The capellini was a vibrant red from the chili and the flavor was quite evident—but not overpowering. The roasted tomatoes, garlic, and generous portion of lump crab meat downplayed the spice nicely. Again, a clean plate.
And, because there were four clean plates (and that’s just the entrees!) we had no room for dessert. But it was well worth it to give up the calories.
I wonder if Angie had dessert.
Telling It Like It Is. 