Okay, here is my review, I did not take pictures this time.... (Not sure when you are going but we are going back in April and I would be more than happy to let you know if the service/quality is the same)
We had a 6:30 ADR for this restaurant and arrived around 6:05pm. The place was hopping. The young lady behind the counter would not allow me to sign in as it had to be "15" minutes prior to your ADR time. I just waited a minute until another young lady was there and checked in. We got seats next to the pass and watched the cooks/waiters and waitresses. It was fun kind of a "Hells Kitchen" episode in front of you. We also were able to look at the different types of food coming out and that helped with making our final decisions. We were seated at 6:35pm and I enjoyed our table seating.
Drinks: We are quite boring in this portion of our dining but did "spruce" it up at a few meals. DH and DD had a coke, DS a rootbeer, and I had an unsweeten tea. The waiter was very nice and offered to make DD a cherry coke with grenadine from the bar and also brought us a whole bowl of lemons. Both of my children love lemon in there pop and also plain. Shortly after receiving the drinks we were brought some very lovely warm, fluffy, and very fresh rolls with both olive oil and butter. The olive oil was a bit bitter but the butter was better (hey that sounds really familiar
). To those who love to dip their bread in olive oil I am sure that is was good, but we are spoiled by the dipping at Mario Batali's restaurant. I definetely made the mistake of giving my family "high end" culinary changes from the start instead of working them up. Oh well, hopefully I will get a Doctor and a high paid business manager from the deal
.
DD and I both ordered the Oven-baked Chicken alla Parmigiana. Halfway trying to pronounce it, the waiter winked at DD and said just say chicken parm. DH had the Spicy Italian Sausage, and finally DS had the Charred Butcher Tender Steak (medium).
I'll started with DS. At first he was put off by the menu stating it had gorgonzola butter on roasted red pepper polenta and grilled asparagus with a red wine reduction. I had to tell him that each item listed would bring more flavor. He is really a meat and potato boy. The steak was cooked to perfection. Very tender and the reduction created enough flavor that DS never even asked for steak sauce. I was allowed one bite and he ate the rest. He was allowed to eat the asparagus as it does not affect his odor
and even tried the polenta. He doesn't like my polenta (states it is to dry and bland) but thought this was a little bit better. I thought it was very flavorful and took the liberty to finish it for him.
DH love the spicy sausage and was happy to have something different from the same ole' that he would be comfortable ordering. (also meat/potato kind of guy). The sausage was spicy but it was cooked to perfection. The rigatoni was cooked a bit more than I like but it was just the way he wanted it. He said that there was just the right amount of peppers and onions in it to balance out the meal perfectly. In the end, he won as there was nothing left in the bowl.
DD and I really liked the Chicken Parm. The coating was very good. Not just your average bread crumbs and the chicken was thicker than a normal cutlet and very juicy but cooked to perfection. The cheese and sauce were good but a bit more like mine than a real Italian red sauce. This was actually a good thing as DD enjoyed it very much. DD tackled over 1/2 of her meal almost to 1/3 complete and I ate 1/2 and gave the rest to DH. This is very normal for me though. They offerered freshed shaved parm to each of us and I snuck a peak at the block and it definetely was a higher end piece of cheese. The main course was an A+ for all of us. We have now tackled 3 of the TS at HS's and I must admit, this was our favorite. The level of noise was a tad bit lower than 50's Prime time and Sci-Fi and the waiter never rushed us out. It was really nice to have a place for the kids at there age where they could still color on the menu's but enjoy a meal that they liked...
Now I know you are all thinking it... Come on admit it.... Where's dessert?
Just teasing, I ordered coffee (no extra charge) and the rest kept their drinks filled.
My DS had the Tiramisu, DD vanilla gelato, DH the Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake and I asked for the waiters opinion as I wanted both the Crema Limone and the Honey-Hazelnut & Ricotta Cheesecake. The waiter and blood orange sauce (with an extra serving promised by the waiter) swayed me to the cheesecake.
DS devoured the tiramisu and I would have to say it was excellent, but I didn't get to try it. DD wasn't really that hungry and ate most of her gelato but did state this is was "vanilla ice cream" and not actual gelato. Good ice cream, but definately ice cream. DH enjoys chocolate as much as *** and he really enjoyed the cake. It was not dry at all as I have seen reported and he put some of DD's ice cream on it.
My cheesecake. What can I say the combination of one of the best cheesecakes I have had in a very long time along with the blood orange reduction almost reduced "me" to tears. I offered bites to everyone than ate small bites enjoying every second it was on my tastebuds. Excellent!! Small but oh so good. I had left over orange sauce and I only had two options. Lick it out or mix it with the ice cream. To risk embarrassing the family I finished it with the ice cream. I would have asked for the name/recipe of the sauce but I am sure I would eat way too much at home and the special treat wouldn't have its appeal next year. Yep, we loved it all so much, we will be back.
It took me a while to think about my favorite quote of the meal, but here it is...
From the mouth of DS.... (ps. he is my foodie child) "If Mama married Mario, dinner would have been perfect".
So there you have it the only downfall was a small bowl of olive oil in some bitter oregano/basil.
We had great, friendly service as well. It may have been slow (can't really remember now), but I didn't really care as long as it was friendly and comfortable.
