This post is going to be largely visual, as I wanted to share a few pictures of some of the dishes that we enjoyed in the land of Che Fabio. Palma has already shared the ones at her end of the table and I have a few more - we were quite discreet with the cameras, I thought.
While waiting for Krista and Steve to get to Moorpark from Santa Barbara, David and I, and Brad and Palma had glasses of wine in the bar area - it was quite crowded even at 7 pm and I think it was kismet when 4 seats opened up. Palma and I sampled two of the three pinot grigios on the wines by the glass, while David and Brad went for a red from Montepulciano, not quite a Barolo, David thinks it was a Nebbiolo grape, but apparently they were starstruck themselves.
Our lovely server Jennifer, who may be the best server in California as Palma has said, was very gracious with our party of six, and allowed us to order course by course, which is not the norm in California restaurants. We spent quite a long time reading the menu, and decided to order appetizers for the table: a dish of calamari and zucchini fritti and a plate of mixed bruschetta - sadly, I have no pictures of these.
http://www.ediblesantabarbara.com/content/I do have pictures of the salads that David and I ordered for a first course:
David ordered the Insalata di Pere- baby lettuce, crumbled blue cheese, carmelized walnuts, Tuscan pecorino cheese, poached pears in Chianti Wine and Balsamic dressing.
I had the Insalata di Burrata - burrata cheese, arugula, sundried tomato, roasted mushrooms and pine nuts, balsamic glaze and shaved Parmesan.
Somehow between and before our next courses, David snuck in an order of fettucine bolognese - this stealth attack was duly noted, and tasted by me, but somehow no photo was taken.
Here's a shot of Brad enjoying his order of the evening's special pasta, that had carmelized brussels sprouts as one of the ingredients - these veggies were shaved finely into the sauce - my only regret was not having a bite from my table partner's dish.
For main courses, I decided to have the Linguine Frutti di Mare, which was a lovely plate of linguine pasta, shrimp, calamari, clams and black mussels, tomato and white wine sauce - I know I have already posted the picture, but it belongs here too:
Having had salad and pasta, David went for the carne with a dish called tagliata di filetto, a grilled Angus filet medallion thinly sliced on arugula, with extra virgin olive oil. aged shaved Parmesan cheese and black truffle.
Meanwhile next to me, Brad was enjoying a bowl of cioppino.
I think Palma captured the dishes at her end of our table.
Oh, and of course there was wine. Having tasted some Italian wines before dinner, and since Krista and Steve have been working so hard on their Edible Santa Barbara magazine,
we decided to drink some pinots from two Santa Barbara county wineries: Laeticia and Taz - we have been to the former several times but Taz is new to us.
And we learned a wine cork trick from the lovely Jennifer.
Amazingly enough, while the dessert menu was enticing, we were all too full to even consider another course. There were some coffees and a glass of port for David (Brad was our driver), but dessert at Cafe Firenze is going to have to wait for another visit. I look forward to another visit, even if Chef Fabio is not in the house.
Comments (10)
Hey Marcia--don't tease! You say "Here's a shot of Brad enjoying his order of the evening's special pasta, that had carmelized brussels sprouts as one of the ingredients", but no shot of Brad to be seen....
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures and descriptions. I need to go open a can of tuna and have my meager dinner. Sigh.
Judy
Posted by tourmama | March 24, 2009 7:59 PM
Posted on March 24, 2009 19:59
The food all looks sooo heavenly! How lucky you all were and to live nearby (or at least close enough to get there now and then). Yum!! I am jealous!
Posted by girasoli | March 25, 2009 12:08 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 00:08
What beautiful food. I would love to eat there! I bet Fabio will have a cookbook out before too long. Thanks for the vicarious meal!
Posted by Annie | March 25, 2009 5:49 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 05:49
Marcia, what a great night. Love all the details and pictures. Thanks so much for sharing.
Posted by Barb Cabot | March 25, 2009 7:11 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 07:11
I tagged you as one of 5 "Fabulous Blogs" today. You may just drag the award to where you keep photos. Pass it on, or skip it if you like!
Posted by Palma | March 25, 2009 8:06 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 08:06
These look lovely especially the pasta. Now I need to go eat breakfast.
Posted by marta | March 25, 2009 9:56 AM
Posted on March 25, 2009 09:56
Yummy! The food looks beautiful. And maybe you should teach us the wine cork trick?
Posted by candi | March 25, 2009 3:23 PM
Posted on March 25, 2009 15:23
Thanks Judy for pointing out I had left the picture of Brad and his pasta out; problem fixed.
And thanks Palma for the blog shout-out, that's very nice of you.
Candi, I would teach you the wine trick if I could, but there had been some wine drinking already, I think that Brad and Steve were watching closely.
Posted by Marcia | March 25, 2009 4:13 PM
Posted on March 25, 2009 16:13
Nice evening, Marcia! The food photos make me hungry, immediately. Good food and good friends...nothing better!
Posted by Brenda | March 25, 2009 10:11 PM
Posted on March 25, 2009 22:11
Marcia, thank you for the part 2 Fabio tales. I enjoy reading your escapades. That cork thing is interesting... maybe a lesson at the next Paso SlowBowl?
Posted by Eden | March 27, 2009 1:10 AM
Posted on March 27, 2009 01:10