4meanytime QUOTE (bloviatrix @ Jun 17 2004, 02:04 PM) --alporcini Is that for real? Al, I appreciate your passionate defense, but I thought marsala chicken was made form marsala wine. Do these guys really source the grapes for the wine? ----------- It has been my distinct good pleasure to spend time with the Lombardo family in Marsala, Sicily, who have been tending their vineyards for over three generations and make a marsala wine that meets the highest standards. Several years ago, during harvest time, Damian personally visited many of the local winemakers in the Marsala region, and decided that the Lombardos sense of familigia, dedication to the earth and its bounties, and commitment to quality were most simpatico with Carrabba’s core values. Today Lombardo is the only marsala wine used at Carrabba's... and if you haven't tried Carrabba's sirloin marsala, man, you're missing something... I've also had the privilege to meet the Borges family, who Damian discovered in Lleida, Spain, and whose ancestors have been growing olives on the same land for hundreds of years... theirs is the only extra virgin olive oil used at Carrabba's....NO CANNOLA OIL HERE!!!!! I've been up to Prince Edward Island to meet local fisherman Bob and Brian Fortune who farm raise their mussels for 18 months so they taste fresh and juicy and look like black diamonds... I watched their faces when they tasted Carrabba's famous steamed mussels made for them courtesy of Johnny Carrabba... I never saw two happier folks. More than anything, J&D know that great Italian food is based on fresh herbs... and Carrabba's gets their herbs in every day, and only buy enough for that day so that they have all there essential oils... until he passed away two years ago they got all their herbs from a retired geologist called Sol Meltzer -- being as affectionate as they are, even though he wasn't their uncle, Johnny and Damian called him Uncle Sol... it made him feel special... Johnny and Damian have that same personalf relationship with every supplier, grower, and individual they do business with.They demand the best! It's amazing how many letters they get from people who --even though they know that it is-- are so impressed with the quality of the food and the ingredients at Carrabba's, they can't believe it's a chain. Hey, I know nothing's always perfect.. there have been times when the alfredo sauce has been a little gloppy, and i've had chicken marsala that's too salty... but the way Carrabba's does business, you tell someone you have a problem and they'll go out of their way to take care of it for you. Joe H -- thanks for giving Carrabba's the benefit of the doubt... much more often than not you will be delighted when you eat there. Beans, I'm truly sorry about your olive oil experience--- but you should have told somebody.Talked to the manager or proprietor-- those guys are in the restaurant almost every single night. I guarantee someone would have made it right. That's what this company is about... Johnny says it best when he says, "The best compliment we can get is when people walk out of the door happy."
