New Pasta Dinner

My brother and some of his friends from CCU used to get together for "Friday Dinners". I don't know how I got invited, or if I just showed up, but somehow I got in on the loop. I remember one time we had one planned at Mondo's apartment and his back went out. Everyone still came over and Mondo was laid out on his futon mattress in the middle of the floor while we all ate around him. We watched a few episodes of Flight of the Concords that night too. It was fun. That was a year ago.
I finally made some plans with Debbie and asked Mondo to extend the invitation to the rest of the group. Everyone was able to make it. I was pretty psyched to try a new dish. A pasta with white cheese cream sauce.

I came home early to get a good start and make sure everything was ready on time. But - the stove didn't cooperate! It kept blowing the circuit when I had more than one burner on! grrr! Fortunately, I was able to have dinner on the table at the right time... I just ended up having to make dessert.

It's been a while, but here are some "not really a recipe" notes...
For the pasta sauce:
I sautéd shallots for a minute and then added chicken broth. Simmered for a bit before adding grated gouda cheese and heavy whipping cream. Once that got to a consistency I liked, I added wilted spinach, cooked chicken and sautéd mushrooms. I poured the sauce over fusili pasta cooked al dente, mixed and topped with toasted pine nuts.

The next time I will probably use white onions and garlic instead of shallots. I might add some bacon or procuitto and I might try a different white cheese too - although, wouldn't be sad to use gouda again. The fusili pasta was hard to find, but I would definitely take the time to look for it again.

For desert we had Bananas Foster:
I melted butter and added brown sugar. Once that melded together, I added sliced bananas and stirred the mixture for a bit before adding some spiced rum. It didn't flambé for me, so we just ate it like that (yumm). I rolled the ice cream in the crepe, with sliced bananas and then covered with the sauce.

Go NoRTH!

After our Pampering Feet Party, Claudia, Concetta and I decided to go out for dinner. Since this area is middle ground for us, we tried to think of somewhere close. Concetta mentioned a place called NoRTH, which was just a few minutes away in Cherry Creek.

We got there about 6:30pm which was good timing. It wasn't crowded at all (but it really got busy after we were seated). Concetta had been there before, but it was a first time for me and Claudia. I was excited because I love trying new places.

I don't think of myself as a snobby eater. I don't go places because they're known as a place to be seen at. NoRTH, I think - might be one of those kind of places. When I looked it up online, I saw it's part of the Bloom family, which is a restaurant I think of that way. BUT, I have to say - I really enjoyed the evening, the service was great and I LOVED the food!

At being seated, we were immediately served seasoned olives and sliced bread with a tomato seasoned butter. Yummy. I think I might try some of those olives for my wine tasting....

Appetizer: Claudia and Concetta each ordered the Tuscan Tomato Soup, Parmesan, Grilled Bread. I had a bite. It was a hearty, thick and well seasoned tomato soup. The portion wasn't tiny either - so if it sounds like something you might like to try, you might want to share. We also shared an order of Artichoke Hearts with Dijon & Balsamic which was so buttery and just melted in my mouth.

Dinner Plate: Claudia ordered Strozzapreti, Mushrooms, Spinach, Toasted Pine Nuts & Parmesan Cream. She offered me a bite and it was amazing! I loved my dish, but I am excited to go back and order this one. Concetta and I both ordered the Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin, Italian Potato & Asparagus, but I sub'd Wild Mushroom Orzo for the Italian Potatoes. Another melt-in-your-mouth offering.

Dessert: Nutella Cake: Chocolate Hazelnut Cake, Cabernet Caramel Chocolate Sauce, Fresh Berries, Toasted Hazelnuts. Like I need to tell you how good this was huh? But there was a funny story. We were all so stuffed, but really wanted to try the dessert, so we decided to share one. Concetta asked the server if she could cut us a little bit bigger piece since we were splitting three ways. She said that they were pre-cut, but she would work out something for us. So here come two desserts - one with a candle to celebrate my birthday! Haha, I rolled with it.

I will definitely be back!

NoRTH Cherry Creek
http://www.foxrestaurantconcepts.com/north.html
190 Clayton Ln
Denver, CO 80206
720-941-7700

Really? I said that?

Yesterday was Mondo's 29th birthday. We went to Carraba's for dinner to celebrate. The evening did not start out well...

6:00pm - Phoned in a call-ahead reservation for 11 at 7pm

6:45pm - Arrived and checked in. Told by hostess that we should have been told at the time our call-ahead reservation was accepted, that another larger party was already booked and we probably wouldn't be able to be sat for another half hour.

We asked if breaking up our table would make it faster. She replied no, it will still be about the same time. We said okay, we'll wait for the table.

7:25 - We're taken to two tables. And although you could argue that these tables were side by side, there was clearly a partition separating them.

I went back up to the hostess and told her that we didn't realize they were going to break us up. We were under the impression we had been waiting for so long because we were going to be seated together.

Here's where it started going bad...

The hostess replied "no, you said you would like to be seated at separate tables if it would be faster". "Yes, and I meant like it will take 15 minutes instead of a half hour faster.... but it wasn't faster, it's actually been longer than you said. And since we've waited this long, what we would rather do is continue to wait for the large table so we can sit together." She kept on saying how I said we wanted separate tables - which brought up another point in my mind that ticked me off. We've taken separate tables before in cases like this (and actually were seated faster) - but I've never been seated at separate tables that were so separate you couldn't see the other people in your party. It just wasn't going to work and I didn't understand why I had to ask three times to wait for the big table.

I was already writing a blog in my head. It makes me so mad when someone in a customer service type roll - like a restaurant hostess - would argue with a customer like that. It makes no sense.

But Mondo said "let it go".

Wait. It gets better....

It was Mondo's birthday, so I did let it go and we went on talking and waiting for the big table. Soon after, a woman named Kim (I think) stopped by and let us know she was a manager on duty and she heard there was a mix up with our tables.

I told her what happened and how not being told about the party when I called and waiting for the table was not the issue (I've worked in a restaurant before, and I know you have no control over how long a party sits at a table. I also know that the bigger the party, the more they might sit around and talk), but the argument from the hostess was a bit much on top of it. She acknowledged it as an error and offered to get our party an appetizer while we continued to wait.

That turned things around. I like that they took the initiative to better a situation that was giving me a bad taste in my mouth before I even sat down to eat.

At about 8pm, we were finally seated - together.

Our waitress was rockin'. She was extremely friendly and did everything right. And when Darren's order came out as bruschetta instead of shrimp scampi, she took it away without any issue and quickly had the correct dish made up for him. ....Which, he didn't like at all! Doh! So she brought him some noodles with butter, which made him happy. It was such good service in fact, that it didn't even bother me when she offered dessert mini's to us and then came back and said they were all out. Or that when she asked us if we wanted to try anything else and Darren ordered a regular dessert - and she came back and said they were all out of those too - didn't bother me.

So, the night didn't start out so well. But it was quickly fixed and made all the difference in the world. The family enjoyed the birthday dinner and had a good time. And their Customer Service Rating went way up in my book.

About the food...
Appetizer: Calamari (how can you complain about free food. The manager sent out a double order and it was great to have a munchie while we waited. Even my niece Aubrey tried some - way to go!)
Drink: Italian Margarita (I think they call it a Rabbarita or something like that). Very tasty, except I like them with sugar on the rim and it was served salted. Mondo had a Mojito (de uva?) - it was a grape Mojito and he liked it too.
Entree: I had the Spiedino di Mare which was good, although I'm not sure I would order it again. Mondo had the Pollo Rosa Maria, which I would order. Karen and my dad had the Lasagne and weren't very impressed. I never order lasagne out - homemade is too good :)

Carrabba's Italian Grill
http://www.carrabbas.com/
303-940-5620
7401 West 92nd Ave
Westminster, CO 80021

A little shady if you ask me...

A Restaurant Review....

Lechuga's Italian Restaurant

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Type: Half is Casual Sit Down and Half is a Bar
Location: 3609 Tejon St, Denver, CO 80211 / Phone 303-455-1502
Price: $5 and up
Recommendation: My son loves it! I'm kinda over it... but if you haven't yet, you should give it a try.

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Occasion: After a movie downtown, my brother and his family, my brother Mondo, me and my son went to grab a quick bite for dinner at Lechuga's. It's a favorite of his family and also of my son's, but since it's so far from us, we usually only go there when we're doing something else close by.

Order: Me and Mondo ordered a big square combo-pizza to share and a side-salad each. My nephew ordered a whole big square pepperoni for himself. The rest of the family ordered sausage and meatball canolis - some smothered with cheese and sauce, some stuffed with jalapenos and some with SOS (sauce on the side).

My family loves the canolis - and they are a pretty good value. Monstrous portions at about $3.75 each, $4.75 smothered with cheese and sauce. Tonight the sausage ones were as good as always, but the meatball that my niece ordered looked dried up. She doused it in sauce, but still hardly ate any at all. Not very appetizing.

My salad was swimming in ranch dressing. I'm used to that, but I still order them there because they cover them with mozzarella and pepperoni and I like 'em. However, I didn't like the pizza at all. The crust tasted too much like a Jiffy mix and was really thick. I'm sure it's the last time I will ever order one there. Mondo and my nephew didn't like it either - but my nephew did mention that their individual rounds are usually much better.

I guess this happens from time to time, but the soda mix was off that night too and everyone who ordered a cola thought they tasted like diet... and they didn't order diet.

Atmosphere: There wasn't enough room for our group of 8 to eat in the dining room, so we were directed to the bar area. It's an older establishment that has seen a recent update on the dining side, but is quite aged on the bar side. The room was dark and we sat against a wall sharing 4 tiny bar tables.

Service: I'm sure this lady is the owner or at least the manager - but she came over to our table, standing right next to the two youngest in the group, 10 & 12 - and seeing our tables only half set up yells "What kind of shit is this? Where's your silverware!?" Her call was aimed at the waitress of course and me and Mondo could barely hold in a laugh, hardly believing what just happened.

I feel like I've been getting duped on bills lately, so I took the liberty of itemizing out our order (me and Mondo got separate checks from JJ & his family). We were overcharged a whole $1.00 for a smothered item, that we didn't get smothered. Even taking that into consideration, our total was still off. Turns out tip was added. I know - it's usual for a tip to be added when there is a party of 8 or more..... but usually it's noted on the receipt and if not, the server usually mentions it! A little shady if you ask me...

Conclusion: Although I feel like I'm over it... I used to like going there every once in a while. It was a great place to grab some take out on the way to a Rockies Game! But, my son loves it - so chances are we will be back every now and then.

If you haven't had one - and your near the area - you really should stop by and grab a "Super" - or a "Devil" if you're daring

I'm not a professional anything - it's just my opinion, and that's what ya get for reading my blog. Cheers!