To follow up on my essay from Saturday, I took some pix at a relatively nice Italian restaurant, one with classy aspirations (they have osco bucco on the menu). I ordered penne arribiata, i.e. penne with a sauce of tomatos, onions and cherry peppers. Here’s what it looked like:
The sauce was quite fresh and tasty and the tomatos still had some body; they were not over-processed into a Campbells Soup consistency. So, the sauce was not the problem. It was the pasta portion — too big. The dish was simply pasta and sauce. That’s the mindset that needs changing. In my opinion, a restaurant entree should be a complete, satisfying meal in itself. Most of the meat dishes in this place are indeed that – they come with potatoes and veggies. But with pasta, the prevailing mindset is that you only want noodles and some sauce; you want carbs and little else. If you want some vegetables to make it a more satisfying meal with a better protein balance, you have to order them and pay extra. So I ordered some brocolli rabe sautéed in garlic, as seen in this shot:
OK, now we have a nice dinner going. But the pasta is still out of proportion. The plate here should only be half-full of pasta and sauce, and the rabe and garlic (or some other nice combo, perhaps something with chick peas) should take up the second half. But you can’t get such a meal anywhere that I know of — other than my own kitchen. If I had a lot of time to kill and $$$ to lose, I’d open up a restaurant that served tasty, wholesome, balanced pasta dishes. But given that I’m an underpaid, over-50 bureaucrat with an invalid mother to help support, well . . . I’m afraid that Jim’s Place won’t be opening anytime soon.
Jim, The last time I had an Italian meal was a couple of weeks ago when I took my sister out for her birthday; we went to lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal. We went to a place that has several restaurants in the area–Francesca’s. (Don’t know if they are any place else.) We had risoto which was absolutely delicious–with mushrooms and some very perfect Italian sausage (just enough meat to give it a taste–a few bites. I then ordered some kind of penne with a cream sauce (perfect–not too “thick” and not too “thin”–so to say) that had peas and shitaki mushrooms. As I’m a big fan of shitaki mushrooms, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing–accompanied by a glass of white wine. (I don’t care if one doesn’t order white wine with Italian–I do.) The whole thing was perfect.
But it was not inexpensive; the entire bill set me back $75. But for a b-day celebration for my sister, I thought the meal was worth the money (for 2 people). The service was perfect too. All I had to do was raise my hand to the server to get his immediate attention–worth the tip I gave him. (None of that looking in vain for whoever serves your table.)
Well, my meal probably didn’t meet your standards, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to admit, though, that one of the reasons I might have so thoroughly enjoyed the meal was that it was so far superior to the meals I have at home (major cooking is a thing long ago in my past at this point in my life) that it was worth the money. I also have to say that any kind of tomato sauce is my very LEAST favorite on any kind of pasta. I only eat it when that’s all I have around the house.
Mary S.
Comment by Anonymous — October 23, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Jim, The last time I had an Italian meal was a couple of weeks ago when I took my sister out for her birthday; we went to lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire meal. We went to a place that has several restaurants in the area–Francesca’s. (Don’t know if they are any place else.) We had risoto which was absolutely delicious–with mushrooms and some very perfect Italian sausage (just enough meat to give it a taste–a few bites. I then ordered some kind of penne with a cream sauce (perfect–not too “thick” and not too “thin”–so to say) that had peas and shitaki mushrooms. As I’m a big fan of shitaki mushrooms, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing–accompanied by a glass of white wine. (I don’t care if one doesn’t order white wine with Italian–I do.) The whole thing was perfect.
But it was not inexpensive; the entire bill set me back $75. But for a b-day celebration for my sister, I thought the meal was worth the money (for 2 people). The service was perfect too. All I had to do was raise my hand to the server to get his immediate attention–worth the tip I gave him. (None of that looking in vain for whoever serves your table.)
Well, my meal probably didn’t meet your standards, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to admit, though, that one of the reasons I might have so thoroughly enjoyed the meal was that it was so far superior to the meals I have at home (major cooking is a thing long ago in my past at this point in my life) that it was worth the money. I also have to say that any kind of tomato sauce is my very LEAST favorite on any kind of pasta. I only eat it when that’s all I have around the house.
Mary S.
Comment by Anonymous — October 23, 2007 @ 12:50 pm