.gif)
One night last week, my plans fell through and I found myself up for some solo dining in the Pearl District. I walked by Piazza Italia and decided to give it a try. An Italian gentleman approached me in the doorway and held up one finger "Uno?" [Okay, disclaimer here. I know no Italian. Everything I heard, I heard in Spanish. So everything you read here is the victim of my interpretation.] I nodded my head. "Pregunta." He turned around and walked away towards some tables on the sidewalk.
I didn't know if I was supposed to follow him or not, so I just stood there. Then, an older Italian gentleman standing just outside the door motioned at me, "Hey Lady!" and he pointed towards the first guy, waiting at a table for me on the sidewalk. Snap, Crackle, Pop, I was seated, had a bread basket and a dish of olive oil and vinegar. It was remarkable - their organization and speed with which they serviced the tables.
My only complaint of the whole dinner was that the bread was dry - like it had been cut and then sat out for an hour or two before being placed on the tables. But it was good and dipped in the oil and vinegar, I didn't really care.
I ordered Gino's Favorite Linguini S
quarciarella: prosciutto, egg, onions, parmigiano and black pepper (I think it was about $12.) It came out within about 10 minutes. While I was waiting, they refilled my olive oil. Did you read that? THEY REFILLED MY OLIVE OIL. Beautiful. The pasta was simple, fresh and delightfully laced with sharp parmigiano, salty proscuitto and a little spice with the black pepper.
I ate all of it. Then they took my plate. I was out of there in less than a half hour. Which was not my goal, really, but I didn't mind that their service was so practiced and down pat that they could serve me a nice dinner so quickly.
Impressive service, quality pasta and they refill your olive oil when you run out. Yeah, I'm thinking you should go.
6 comments:
Hey Lady, that's what I often end up getting there. I love the squarciarella. But I don't think I have ever been in and out of there so fast. But that probably has to do with the fact that I have rarely gone there without a reservation and not needed to wait.
When I went to Italy I was trying to speak Spanish to them the whole time. The words look the same!
People think the French are rude but try speaking Spanish to an Italian. Ha!
I just love your posts. I wish I could come and eat at all your spots!
speaking of italian....i had my little italian do that thing for you,but greg is NEVER home.
so i'll get it of in the mail this week.
we've been fixing up the new shop, if you and your sis are ever out this way we should go see a show and get dinner!
take care, hope all is well!
Kimberly - I'm so excited to get mail from you! And next time I'm in your area, I'll stop by - it would be fun to meet! Thanks so much! (now if I could just stop using exclamation points!)
Love + Marriage - Seriously. I don't know what I'm going to do when I go to Greece in the fall. I tried (weakly) to learn Greek, but it all turns into Spanglish by the time I'm done.
Oh...watch out! The men in Greece are very "handsy". I know this is a common stereotype but it happened to me twice. Once I fell asleep on a train and was groped by a policeman! And another it was my own fault for following a looker back to his apartment. What was I expecting anyway? I was kinda naive. Luckily I escape both situations with my loud voice. Just thought I'd pass that along. :)
Love + Marriage - Oh is that a bad thing? Ha ha - just kidding. Kind of.
Post a Comment