It's Friday 2/22. What.....

[Rosie]

are you doing this weekend? I'm cooking tonight    Tomorrow we are going back for our second visit to Il Ripasso, a new Italian restauant in Livingston. Sunday we have tickets for George St. so I don't know where we will end up. Is anyone going to the Restaurant Show in NYC?

[Cornus]

I saw the *Sisters* at GSP last night...you're going to love it!

[Rosie]

Thanks for the thumbs up. But where did you eat?  

[Cutiepie]

Rosie,

I'm going to The Mignon House in Rutherford. Have you been there yet?

[Rosie]

No. Be sure to give us a report and let us know if it is worth a visit. I was at Frankie and Johnnies in Hoboken recently and the food/steak was very good. Place is smokey and noisy though.

[PaulaJ]

We revisited Scalini Fedeli on Saturday evening

and enjoyed an excellent dinner. Rare, seared tuna

on salad w. vinaigrette + duck breast in port wine

w. foie gras + sorbets+ creme brulee tart. Yum.

[Rail Paul]

PaulaJ -

Last time I visited Scalini, I thought the menu was very compact (relatively few choices). Is that still the case?

Also, may I ask the price range for sample items now? I have the feeling Restaurant Serenade (across the street) has priced itself unreasonably higher than SF. I've long felt RS is better than SF, but not $20 a person, excluding wine, of course.

Paul

[Rosie]

Paul- The menus/cuisine at Scalini and Serenade are completely different. You are taking about apples and oranges. Also, Scalini is BYO and although they are not cheap they are certainly less expensive than Serenade.

[Rail Paul]

Rosie -

that's the point I was trying to get to. Thank you.

I had Serenade pegged at about $50 a head plus wine (which they provide), and Scalini at about $40. The last time we visited Serenade, everything was up $5-$7. I don't think RS is worth $20 more per person.

But that's just my opinion (and my $20)...

Paul

[PaulaJ]

Scalini Fedeli is $52 prix fixe with several obvious [e.g.lobster] choices bearing a supplement. While

clearly an upscale destination, we were quite satisfied.

 Their menu is extensive. I would estimate about 15

or so offerings in @ the appetizer and entree categories.

The dishes themselves are often complex. The menu

gives a detailed description...and I wouldn't even

attempt to try and recite it. I recall several fish

entrees, a scallop, a lobster-shrimp, duck, veal chop,

rack of lamb, tenderloin of pork,etc. In addition to

the menu, there is a printed page detailing several

'signature' dishes and the nights specials are recited.

 I had become disenchanted w. Serenade's dis-

appointments & prices. Has anyone been there recently?

 Have you tried Adagio?

[Helena Robinson]

Those who've followed my posts have no doubt noticed that Thursday is our usual night for dining out. (Although Friday night we wound up having an early dinner at Managano's, which was great.  Then Ken spent the weekend suffering from a bad case of stomach flu.)

We've decided it's time to start returning to the Italian restaurants in Somerville that we haven't set foot inside for the past few years. So, we began with Ciao Bello - and had quite a pleasant evening.

It's still small (about 30 or so seats), and while the dining room appears to be non-smoking, one can occasionally feel a whiff of smoke from the bar down the hall. The Valentine's Day decorations were still up - a nice neon heart on one wall (which added to the attractiveness of the room), mobiles of hearts hanging from the spot lights (which blocked the light just enough to give Ken problems when trying to read the menu/wine list).

Had a great Burgess zin with the meal.

Appetizers were a mix for us. Ken had an onion soup that was served too warm for his taste. I had a great portobello mushroom appetizer that featured sage and garlic.

Main courses were a fettucini with mushrooms and tomato sauce for me (some of which came home) and sesame-crusted tuna for Ken (a correction, if you saw my post on NJO), which he enjoyed.

Desserts were freshly-made (no sure whether made in-house, though) and wonderful. Ken had an apple pie that he said was one of the best he's had in a long time. I had a light chocolate mousse cake that was garnished with a dollop of whipped cream and a bit of chocolate sauce right from the cart - a nice touch.

Service was pretty good - all the staff seemed to work as a team, so it was sometimes difficult to determine whose attention you needed to get, but that's a minor quibble.

All in all, a nice evening - and another place to return to some time in the future.

So, Rosie - where did you end up having dinner before George St. on Sunday?  We're trying to come up with something for our next pre-theater meal as well.

[Rosie]

Tell me more about Managano's.

We go to the afternoon performance at George St. and ate(?) at Opah Grille afterwards.