mdt

My friend and I ended up going to Dino's for dinner last night and arrived to a packed house around 7:30p or so. Upon entering I recognized the host (ex Ray's) and was greeted with, "Aren't you a friend of JG's?" We were told that there was a wait so we hung out at the bar until our table was ready. Since we were both pretty hungry we started with a small salumi e formaggi plate, the affettati misti. The dish comes with a slice of frittata and slices of mortadella, salami, and provolone cheese. Upon receiving our salumi plate we were informed that they had a table for us, so off we went to the upstairs section. While this area does not have the large windows of the main level it is an enjoyable space to have a meal. We were seated in a booth that had a very wide table, which would provide a great place to sit with a small group and share plates. Ok, back to the food...The salumi plate was a tasty way to start the meal and I enjoyed a glass of Iron Horse "Rosato of Sangiovese". After that we ordered a couple of the Crostino alla Dino, the Saltimbocca (literally means "jump in your mouth"), and the Sarde in Saor. The crostino was delicious, and it is a crispy slice of bread topped with Point Reyes Blue Cheese and a slice of Ortiz anchovy. I love this cheese so I enjoyed this, but thought the anchovy flavor was lost. The saltimbocca was very tasty and the fresh parsley in the chopped tomatoes gave it a wonderful freshness. The Sarde in Soar is a cold marinated panfried sardine with a topping of slow cooked onions and raisins, an Italian version of sweet and sour (agrodolce). We decided to move onto the primi portion of the menu and ordered a small portion of the Pinci all'Aglione and Pinci al Cinghiale (I missed JG's posts and was asked about it when we were served ). I forgot to ask where they source from, but it did not seem like regular piggy to me. Anyway, both dishes had perfectly cooked pasta and I really enjoyed the first pasta dish. This was pasta with chopped heirloom tomatoes and roast garlic. I personally would have enjoyed more roasted garlic, but that is just me. We were enjoying our meal we decided to work our way to the secondi portion of the menu. Since we had alreay eaten quite a bit we split an order of the Branzino, a grilled seabass served with really good olive oil (words from the web site) and lemon. This was easily the best dish of the night in our opinion. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crisp skin surrounding the tender white flesh. We were told that they have been getting negative comments from diners on this dish because the fish is served whole. The Suavia (Garganega, Trebbiano di Soave) Soave, Veneto 2003 was recommended to have with the fish and it went very well. For our next course we moved onto a small cheese plate, point reyes blue, an alsatian goat, and some taleggio. The cheeses were served with small portions of honey, blackberry mostarda, and some preserved(?) grapefruit. I do not remember what wine I was served with this course, but it was good. To end the meal we shared a Panini al Nutella e Mascarpone, which as described in the post above, is simple and delicious. The panini is served with a small scoop of hazelnut gelato. We also shared the Crostata di Pignoli e Miele di Montalcino, which is a pine nut, thyme and honey tart. They were both very good and while I really enjoy nutella, the tart was definitely my favorite. As can been seen on their web site, the wine list is pretty extensive and broken up into user friendly groups. One of my favorite group names is Rustic: Earthy, Funky, Old School. I also like the fact that you can order small or large portions of various items on the menu and the crostini can be ordered individually and mixed and matched. During the meal Dean was roaming the dining room asking how things were and answering questions on wine, cheese, and various other subjects. While I did not speak to him for very long I could see (hear) that he is very passionate about food. It was a wonderful dinner and I will certainly return.

There is an entire world out there besides what is in the US. Here is some info on cinghiale (wild boar). Of course, you will need to be able to read Italian.

No french press? Or were you stuck with whole beans?

I am heading into the city for dinner tonight. I was thinking of trying someplace new and might head up to Dino's.

You beat me to it! I am planning on getting up there for dinner soon myself. Hmmm, maybe this weekend.

This has not happened to me at other restaurants in the past. Of course, if you find out that your party size has changed early enough you could call and let them know.

Well since the restaurant themselves put out the promotion and informed diners how to handle it, then it should not feel awkward. Hopefully the staff is not going to treat those who use the discount poorly. After reading your review, I think the staff should feel awkward at serving food that is a disappoinment.

My breakfast yesterday was a black raspberry gallette (Baking with Julia recipe) and today was left over blackberry cobbler. Sorry, no pics.

Went to Westmoreland Berry Farm over the weekend to pick blueberries, black raspberries, and blackberries. Made a ton of jam and froze some of the blueberries.

I will be at Firefly, but not certain about dinner. I am thinking of heading up to CK or Hank's.

This souds like a great idea and I would be very interested.

They are having a tasting for some Kiwi wines tonight.

It is a dollop of lobster salad (with ginger?) on top of the rice, surrounded by nori. Looks like the uni presentation. I personally found this to be one of my least favorite items.

That is the way the instructor (Thai native) taught us in a Thai cooking class that I took.

After class last night I was hungry and was trying to figure out where to go for a bite to eat. I decided to grab a bite at Tallula and a friend met me there to keep me company and watch me eat. We plopped down at a table in the not too crowded lounge. A short while later a server came by and provided menus for us to peruse. My friend just had a specialty drink, the Dark and Stormy (Gosling's Dark Rum, Ginger Beer, Lime), which was not too bad. I think there was just a bit too much rum as it masked the ginger. I ordered a glass of wine, Fried Green Tomatoes appetizer, and the Niman Ranch Pork Chop for my main. He returned with our drinks that was the last we saw of our waiter until we ordered dessert. A runner dropped by to serve me both my app and entree at the same time. Ugh! Why? I tried to get someone's attention but there was nobody around and I did not feel like getting up (I was starving and wanted to eat). The fried tomatoes were good are served with duck cracklings, frisée salad, and bacon vinaigrette. My friend and I both remarked that the cracklings tasted like chicken, but the bacon vinaigrette was a nice compliment to the bitter frisée. After eating my salad I cut into my pork chop, which looked wonderful, and it was under cooked, even for the MR that I ordered. This did not really surprise me as it came out pretty quickly. At this time another server was coming by (luckily) and he brought it back to the kitchen where it was finished. The chop was good and I enjoyed the side of braised red cabbage. The apple and onion tart was decent, but the crust was a little soft, probably from sitting around while I was eating my salad. Dessert was the Chocolate, Caramel Cashew Bar with Chocolate Sauce and it was a surprisingly light dessert. I don't remember the specifics, but it was delicious. Overall a good dinner, but the service in the lounge needs a bit of work. In watching the room it appears that diners are an annoyance in the lounge.

I think the last sentence is pretty clear.

Hank's bar has only 6 seats and the entire place fills up around 6:30 - 7, but we could get there on the early side and get an outside table(s) if its not too bad outside. Any other suggestions?

Come on G-Town isn't that far! I was kind of thinking about Hank's myself. Or how about BdC?

As mentioned here I think the Great American Restaurants (local chain) gets very little talk. The places serve up decent food for the volume that they do. While not a foodie paradise I have enjoyed many good meals at Artie's and Mike's.

Circle bistro has a pre-theater menu for $35 that runs all the time.

It also sounds like they should have worked on the food too.

Thanks for joining us Tom! There are all sorts of food fads (mini-burgers for one) that make there way onto many menus around town. What fads or trends (good or bad) do you see on the horizon? Alinea recently opened up in Chicago with much hype from 'foodie' world. What is your take on this type of dining? Do you share the view that this is the future of dining?

Totally missed that. It is strange that they do not have a link from the home page. Oh well, now to decide where to go...

Where did you see this list on the open table site?

Of course there is not! I was just indicating that I would organize it for Tuesday night.