In article <ksd8r7$atc$
1...@dont-email.me>, "Alan" <
alz...@frontier.com>
wrote:
> What I like, and go to often are: Serafina, Le Pichet, Il Corvo. Somehow, I
> doubt Mia Roma comes close..
I think Serafina is the only one of those which we've tried. Mia Roma
would not qualify as a first rank restaurant in my book, but on our
recent visit, we found the ambience was generic Italian family joint,
service good, food was acceptable, and portions very generous. Cindy
and I had enough in our take-home boxes for another meal at home.
Maybe the following observation is not unique to Italian restaurants,
but in my experience these tend to have little correlation between
atmosphere/elegance and cuisine quality. Some of the best cooking
happens in quite unremarkable premises. We saw this again on our recent
trip to visit relatives in Monroe, NJ. My uncle took us to his favorite
local eatery: an upscale place with doting waitstaff, plush interiors,
and an ambitious menu. A nice experience, but (with the exception of
the Tiramisu) we could do a better prep of most of the items on their
menu. In a strip mall in the same town is a tiny, crowded Italian
restaurant. This is the sort of place where the pizza ovens are behind
a counter near the big glass front windows. People are constantly
streaming in and out to get takeout pizzas, and the waiters are
struggling to squeeze between tightly placed tables in the crowded
dining room. My 95-year-old uncle hates to go there, because of all the
noise and commotion. But, damn, they have fabulous food. Best pasta
and seafood fra diavolo that I've ever had. For years, I've been trying
to duplicate their sauce, without success.
--
Julian Vrieslander