Tried new (to us) restaurant

Koko wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The shelves inside are jammed with "stuff" and some neat memorabilia
and collectibles.
I did find some nice old cookbooks that I had a hard time tearing
myself away from.
http://i10.tinypic.com/4vp0d2o.jpg

LOL!! Stan looks grumpy.

Cozy, but grumpy :-)

--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

Come to the edge, Life said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, Life said.
They came.
Life pushed them...and they flew."
-Guillaume Apollinaire-

PeterL said:

Koko wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The shelves inside are jammed with "stuff" and some neat memorabilia
and collectibles.
I did find some nice old cookbooks that I had a hard time tearing
myself away from.
http://i10.tinypic.com/4vp0d2o.jpg

LOL!! Stan looks grumpy.

That's his smile.

Quoted message said:

Cozy, but grumpy :-)

Hey, he's married to me. What do you expect!

Koko
---
http://kokoscorner.blogspot.com

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

Koko said:

Quoted message said:

Cozy, but grumpy :-)

Hey, he's married to me. What do you expect!

You're a live wire!!

Christine, who has met Koko!

Koko wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

PeterL said:

Koko wrote in news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The shelves inside are jammed with "stuff" and some neat memorabilia
and collectibles.
I did find some nice old cookbooks that I had a hard time tearing
myself away from.
http://i10.tinypic.com/4vp0d2o.jpg

LOL!! Stan looks grumpy.

That's his smile.

Arms crossed, scowling......... he must be a happy chappy :-)

Or just hungry?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cozy, but grumpy :-)

Hey, he's married to me. What do you expect!

LOL!!! Nothing more ;-P

--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

Come to the edge, Life said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, Life said.
They came.
Life pushed them...and they flew."
-Guillaume Apollinaire-

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Koko, the pictures are very nice and certainly tell a lot. Among other
things, they tell me at once that the food, however tasty, is not
remotely Italian (as in Italian-Italian, heh!). Italians do not serve
pasta that obscenely overloaded way, making it almost a pasta
soup/stew/main dish. And, yes, I do notice your mention that the owners
are from Italy, yet it is clear they have adapted the food they serve to
American tastes, to say the least. The food itself may well be very
good - food does not have to be authentically Italian to be good, after
all - but if it is explicitly (or even implicitly) advertised or
labelled as Italian, it is truly a travesty.

Victor

Victor Sack said:

Italians do not serve pasta that obscenely overloaded
way, making it almost a pasta soup/stew/main dish.

Correct (and the same goes for pizza).

Quoted message said:

And, yes, I do notice your mention that the owners are
from Italy, yet it is clear they have adapted the food
they serve to American tastes, to say the least.

The first thing that hit me was the serving pattern: in Italy the
chicken-parmesan, pasta & beans dish would have been served in two distinct
times and on three dishes: forst the pasta with it's dressing, then the
chicken parmesan on a dish and the beans as a side on a side dish.
The ravioli could look overdressed but it is not so uncommon to find italian
dishes like that: I'm thinking to "ravioli pasticciati" (ravioli poached in
sauce), usually served in tureen like the one in Koko's pics. A good dish of
lasagne in Bologna would get you as well a dish full to the rim of pasta
layers and sauce (ragout + bechamel). And I friggin' like it 😉
--
Vilco
Think pink, drink rose'

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Sheldon

May I ask why? Is a meat ravioli non-traditional? I'm not Italian, so I
don't know.

kili

In article said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Rob would have loved all that sauce except for (any involving cheese).
I, not so much; I'm partial to angel hair pasta with chopped tomatoes
and basil and garlic.

Quoted message said:

We had a good time and would go there again.
http://i9.tinypic.com/4yp0fp3.jpg

Koko

And that's ALL that matters!
Thanks for the links.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller - blahblahblog - Orange Honey
Garlic Chicken, 3-29-2007
jamlady.eboard.com
http:/http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor/

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Victor Sack) said:

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Koko, the pictures are very nice and certainly tell a lot. Among other
things, they tell me at once that the food, however tasty, is not
remotely Italian (as in Italian-Italian, heh!). Italians do not serve
pasta that obscenely overloaded way, making it almost a pasta
soup/stew/main dish. And, yes, I do notice your mention that the owners
are from Italy, yet it is clear they have adapted the food they serve to
American tastes, to say the least. The food itself may well be very
good - food does not have to be authentically Italian to be good, after
all - but if it is explicitly (or even implicitly) advertised or
labelled as Italian, it is truly a travesty.

Victor

How should it be advertised or labelled, Bubba? Italian dishes prepared
for American palates and appetites? I'm not looking for an argument,
just your opinion.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller - blahblahblog - Orange Honey
Garlic Chicken, 3-29-2007
jamlady.eboard.com
http:/http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor/

kilikini said:

Sheldon said:

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Sheldon

May I ask why? Is a meat ravioli non-traditional? I'm not Italian,
so I don't know.

kili

Sheldon's not Italian either 🙂 I tend to think of meat ravioli as the
Chef-Boyardee type although I'm sure that's just silly. I do prefer simple
cheese filled ravioli or spinach-ricotta.

Jill

jmcquown said:

kilikini said:

Sheldon said:

Koko wrote:
> We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.
>
> Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Sheldon

May I ask why? Is a meat ravioli non-traditional? I'm not Italian,
so I don't know.

kili

Sheldon's not Italian either 🙂 I tend to think of meat ravioli as
the Chef-Boyardee type although I'm sure that's just silly. I do
prefer simple cheese filled ravioli or spinach-ricotta.

Jill

I always go for a cheese based ravioli myself, Jill, but I'm also thinking
of other fillings like squash ravioli, lobster ravioli, mushroom
ravioli.....I'm just questioning the thinking that if it's just cheese or
veggies and cheese, does that make it more Italian than a meat filling?
Plus, you can make a myriad of different sauces to go on any of them.
Pesto, alfredo (let's not start *that* argument), marinara, etc.

Maybe none of these are authentic, but I'm wondering what *is* authentic.
According to Wikipedia, meat fillings are used in Italy as well as cheese
and veggie mixtures and the ravioli originated from the idea of the wonton
from Chinese cooking. Wontons generally have pork or some sort of meat
inside of them.

May we get some help from true Italians on what constitutes a "real" filling
for ravioli?

kili

Vilco said:

Victor Sack said:

Italians do not serve pasta that obscenely overloaded
way, making it almost a pasta soup/stew/main dish.

Correct (and the same goes for pizza).

Quoted message said:

And, yes, I do notice your mention that the owners are
from Italy, yet it is clear they have adapted the food
they serve to American tastes, to say the least.

The first thing that hit me was the serving pattern: in Italy the
chicken-parmesan, pasta & beans dish would have been served in two distinct
times and on three dishes: forst the pasta with it's dressing, then the
chicken parmesan on a dish and the beans as a side on a side dish.
The ravioli could look overdressed but it is not so uncommon to find italian
dishes like that: I'm thinking to "ravioli pasticciati" (ravioli poached in
sauce), usually served in tureen like the one in Koko's pics. A good dish of
lasagne in Bologna would get you as well a dish full to the rim of pasta
layers and sauce (ragout + bechamel). And I friggin' like it 😉

All of that and I haven't yet seen garlic bread on the menu.

--
-Gina in Italy

Currently Reading:

Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton
Cold Fire by Dean Koontz

Stitching WIP:

Rosemarkie by Long Dog
St. Sylvestre by Long Dog
St. Georges by Long Dog

Soon to start:

Pompeji Garden Mandela by Chatelaine
Tuscan Town Mandela by Chatelaine

kilikini said:

Sheldon said:

Koko said:

We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Sheldon

May I ask why? Is a meat ravioli non-traditional? I'm not Italian, so I
don't know.

I think he's referring the use of the general term "meat", with no
particular definition.

Meat Burger
Meat Hotdog
Meat Byproducts

The USDA doesn't define "meat" ;-)

-sw

jmcquown said:

kilikini said:

Sheldon said:

Koko wrote:
> We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Sheldon

Quoted message said:

May I ask why?  Is a meat ravioli non-traditional?  I'm not Italian,
so I don't know.

Quoted message said:

kili

Sheldon's not Italian either 🙂  I tend to think of meat ravioli as the
Chef-Boyardee type although I'm sure that's just silly.  I do prefer simple
cheese filled ravioli or spinach-ricotta.

Any decent restaurant's menu would list veal/pork/beef/salmon/lobster
ravioli.... never just "meat"... even a package of tube steaks
indicate what kind of meat in the ingredients list.... even the
dingiest Chinese take-out's menu lists what kind of meat is in every
dish, even a lowly egg roll would indicate pork/shrimp, etc. But
regardless, I scan menus very carefully so I do not order anything
with ground meat... like Jill I would order the cheese ravioli. But
in fact I'd likely not order the ravioli or anything else stuffed. I
would typically order something like mussels marinara with a side of
pasta putanesca, something I can easily identify what/who is in it.
I don't order the meat balls out, I only eat ground meat dishes I
prepared myself.

Quoted message said:

From those pictures nothing whatsoever indicates Italian, not the

food, not the decor... I hope it wasn't expensive.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

I only eat ground meat dishes I prepared myself.

Sounds like a Gen-you-whine food phobia you got there. Lord knows
we hear about it at least every other day (3 times today, even).

-sw

kilikini said:

jmcquown said:

kilikini said:

Sheldon wrote:

>Koko wrote:
>
>>We tried a new, to us, Italian restaurant on Mother's Day.
>>
>>Stan (DH) had the meat ravioli.
>
>Had I seen "meat" ravioli on the menu I would have quickly departed.
>
>Sheldon

May I ask why? Is a meat ravioli non-traditional? I'm not Italian,
so I don't know.

kili

Sheldon's not Italian either 🙂 I tend to think of meat ravioli as
the Chef-Boyardee type although I'm sure that's just silly. I do
prefer simple cheese filled ravioli or spinach-ricotta.

Jill

I always go for a cheese based ravioli myself, Jill, but I'm also thinking
of other fillings like squash ravioli, lobster ravioli, mushroom
ravioli.....I'm just questioning the thinking that if it's just cheese or
veggies and cheese, does that make it more Italian than a meat filling?
Plus, you can make a myriad of different sauces to go on any of them.
Pesto, alfredo (let's not start *that* argument), marinara, etc.

Maybe none of these are authentic, but I'm wondering what *is* authentic.
According to Wikipedia, meat fillings are used in Italy as well as cheese
and veggie mixtures and the ravioli originated from the idea of the wonton
from Chinese cooking. Wontons generally have pork or some sort of meat
inside of them.

May we get some help from true Italians on what constitutes a "real" filling
for ravioli?

'Real filling' is what you get after restaurant-hopping
three or four different authentic Neapolitan (emphasis on
"Neapolitan"😉 cookeries consecutively for your meal. Each
one does something you like best and that's always what
you're looking for. At least that's the way it worked where
I came from. "~)

Roy Jose Lorr said:

kilikini said:

jmcquown said:

kilikini wrote:

May we get some help from true Italians on what constitutes a "real"
filling for ravioli?

'Real filling' is what you get after restaurant-hopping
three or four different authentic Neapolitan (emphasis on
"Neapolitan"😉 cookeries consecutively for your meal. Each
one does something you like best and that's always what
you're looking for. At least that's the way it worked where
I came from. "~)

LOL, I gotcha! :~)

kili

Melba's Jammin said:

How should it be advertised or labelled, Bubba? Italian dishes prepared
for American palates and appetites? I'm not looking for an argument,
just your opinion.

Anything but Italian, this being nothing if not misleading.
Italian-American, perhaps.

The owners of the place may be from Italy, but I have trouble believing
that the chef is also from there. Italians are usually rather proud of
their cuisine and wouldn't plop that mountain of stew over spaghetti,
not even bothering to toss it all together. Quoth Giuliano Hazan, from
_The Classic Pasta Cookbook_: "Toss with a fork and a spoon until the
pasta is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Avoid the common mistake of
serving a heap of pasta with the sauce simply placed on top of it."

Bubba