The Monday after Mother's Day, my beautiful daughter, Alicia, took me for what could possibly be the BEST meal I've EVER had at ANY restaurant. It was very busy for a Monday, so I can imagine we wouldn't have been able to get a table the day before.
When you are first seated, after the wait-person takes your order, they bring you this little round loaf of Rosemary Bread and pour some olive oil from the bottle that's on EACH table, and put some fresh-cracked black pepper into the oil. I'm a little ashamed to say this was my first time ever dipping bread into straight olive oil......and for the love of me, I don't know what the fuck took me so long.
We started our meal off with an appetizer.......
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| Pinot Noir - Mirassou (California) |
The mozzarella is freshly-made IN HOUSE, so it's got that amazing 'snap-back' quality and rich, creamy texture that just makes you wanna take a bath in it. Oh man.....so fucking good. I wish there had been more sauce, though. I'm sure our server, Brian, would've happily fetched us some more.
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| Note To Self: Ask for more Arrabbiata Sauce next time |
Our entrees came shortly after we scarfed down the last wedge of mozzarella.....
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I don't know how to describe my ravioli, other than with some boring adjective. You'd really have to taste it. I've never had such a combination of creamy, rich, deep sauce that also had a hint of sweetness. Completely, mind-blowingly decadent. The mushrooms were cooked PERFECTLY...which, if you love mushrooms, you know that's something that rarely happens at a restaurant.
Naturally, we took a bite of each other's dishes. Alicia's Alfredo was just about the best she's ever had, according to her. I was certainly impressed by it, as Alfredo is such a simple dish.....Romano's took it past what you expect. The sauce was light and not overpowering or too salty. The fettuccine was just THIS side of Al Dente...which is just how I like it. Any more 'to the tooth' and I would've considered it undercooked.
Add fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top of both our dishes, and there was absolutely nothing to compare them to.
We HAD to split dessert, because we'd both committed criminal carb-overload ANYHOW. Why not just kick the stool out from under the noose?
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By this time, I'd decided to order a 3rd glass of wine, but with the intention of giving it to Alicia to drink (HEY!! You don't go to a nice joint like Romano's and NOT have a glass of wine!!).
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| Pinot Grigio - Placido (Italy) |
I mean...she'd already had a simple Peach Iced Tea during her meal. That dessert deserved something special (and so did SHE)!!
We got to know our server, Brian, pretty well during our visit, as he felt comfortable enough with us to tell us a little about himself. Apparently, he used to be a chef IN the kitchen there at Romano's, but found it very stressful (as you can imagine, if you've ever watched a professional kitchen operate). He says he much prefers interacting with the customers and, since he has such extensive personal knowledge of how the food is made, he is able to explain EVERY dish completely.......always a plus.
We asked him if we could take his picture, using the excuse that we had a food blog (yes, a bit of a stretch) and wanted to give him kudos along with the sensational food. He was a bit unsure about it, but we convinced him we would be kind and not post his photo on some "Shittywaiters.com" site or anything like that. If you ever make it to Romano's Macaroni Grill on Sahara (across from the Palace Station Casino), be sure to ask for THIS GUY.....
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| Thank you, Brian, for making my special day with my daughter the most memorable and delicious time I've ever had!! |
