Dinner at Carpaccio

[Dante]

This Halloween my S.O and I celebrated our anniversary by having dinner at Carpaccio , a fairly new Italian restaurant in Hanover, NH.

Decor was quite appropriate- all one would expect from a nice, intimate, good Italian restaurant.

I was quite impressed with our waitress-very friendly, conscientious and helpful (without being intrusive in the least), casual without being overly so. She obviously knew the menu well and it showed that she genuinely believed in the restaurant and was enthusiastic about it.

We started out with drinks, a basic martini, but with an impressive lack of the harshness that I usually associate with such drinks. Extremely good, quality olive too.

Dinner rolls and grissini first- all very tender and flavourful, and obviously freshly made.

My S.O ordered the dates wrapped in pancetta appetizer over baby arugula with balsamic vinegar. The pancetta was so thin that if it weren't for the (quite amazing) taste, I would not have known it was there, the dates were perfectly sweet and soft. The arugula was tender with a good peppery flavour. Just enough vinegar to accentuate the flavour without intruding on it.

I had to have the beef tenderloin carpaccio with capers, parmesan and black truffle oil- it being the dish the restaurant was named after. So wonderful and delicately flavoured, just enough of a texture to let you know it was there, with an interesting, almost honey-like note to it. Presentation was excellent, with the oil and garnishes surrounding and accentuating the main attraction without taking away from it.

For my entree, I had the Fazzoletti Verdi al Ragout - delicious spinach fazzoletti- wonderful thickness, good bite to them without being too much. Lovely ground boar meat (not ground too fine- quite chunky but still not overly so) with a sweet barbecue flavour to it, accompanied by a delightful fresh porcini ragout.

My S.O. had the lobster ravioli- good, thick (but not overly so) pasta, nice hint of basil and just enough pepper to enhance the taste, the lobster itself had an unusually tender texture and still had a taste of the sea to it. One of those rare occasions where I felt the need to wait until the flavour had left my mouth entirely before I would allow myself to eat something else. Extremely well done.

Wine was Luigi Bosca Reserve 2006 Pinot-quite excellent, smooth and light. A good accompaniment that didn't impinge on the food but went with everything splendidly.

Our dessert was a piece of a lovely flourless hazelnut torte with a bit of caramelized condensed milk, nutty and moist, almost falling apart, surprisingly complex flavour and texture for something so simple.

We were quite delighted to have Chef Giovanni Leopardi himself come out to talk with us for a bit, talking to us about his philosophy of cooking, focus on fresh local ingredients, and about the restaurant itself. He came across as a very nice, down-to-earth fellow whose entire approach stemmed from what he genuinely believed in doing.

I would heartily recommend Carpaccio to anyone looking for an outstanding dining experience in the Upper Valley and for anyone with a love for real Italian cuisine.