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So after a great Progressive Meal Saturday night Bam and I haven't been able to strike gold again. Tuesday night we met at Charlie's Steak House. It was nostalgic to me since I hadn't been since they re-opened (it's been over a year already!). I waited for him at the bar where Larry was quite entertaining. There were no diners in the restaurant the whole time I was there and even til halfway through our meal when another couple showed up. Bam and I started with the onion rings and a bottle of Hess Cab. We each got a T-bone and the potatoes au gratin and the mushrooms bordelaise. Everything was good and pretty much as I expected it to be, but for $160 I would have rather La Boca or O'Brien's.

The next night we went to Leonardo's Trattoria on St Charles Avenue by Herbsaint. We had a Sicilian Red to start (Planeta Rosso) and the Calamari Fritti. The calamari needed much seasoning and was barely good. If I wasn't starving I wouldn't have eaten much. Then we shared the Pancetta salad. It also had very little flavor. For my entree I had the Spaghetti Carbonara and Bam had the Pansotti Bisanzio (a kind of ravioli with spinach and ricotta maybe in a tomato sauce). Neither entree had any real flavor and the pancetta in my dish was all fatty pieces. The pasta was fresh but other than that it was pretty boring. I wonder if the chef has any salt in the kitchen?

Are we just coming down off a major high or did we pretty much experience what everyone else has been at these two places?

When I ate at Leonardo's it was great but that was a long time ago. I have read terrible reviews recently on Chowhound. Never been to Charlie's.

if you still have a hankering for Italian, go to Cafe Di Blasi. thouroughly enjoyed dinner there a few weeks ago. oysters remoulade, oyster artichoke soup, osso buco, braciolone, angel hair w/red gravy, fetts alfredo.

for carbonara, I go to Fausto's. but never get a go box and microwave the next day. leftovers will separate and will show the evils of butter and cream, unless you're on lipitor.

I am disappointed to hear about Leonardo's. It was on my short list. I still may try it but will go with lesser expectations.

I know I may take a hit for this but last Friday night I went to Tony Angelo's for the first time is 20+ years. I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed the evening. I had the Osso Bucco which was a very tender, generous portion with lots of marrow. The red sauce needed some help but adding a little cheese and a pinch of salt made it decent. The food wasn't great but was good. The atmosphere was really nice and service was excellent.

Try it for atmosphere, service and people watching. We sat near Paul Mainieri and Mr. Tony came to our table. Come to find out, Mr. Tony said he was raised for a while by my great grandfather in Lakeview in the 1930's.

EatinAintCheatin wrote: I know I may take a hit for this but last Friday night I went to Tony Angelo's for the first time is 20+ years. I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed the evening. I had the Osso Bucco which was a very tender, generous portion with lots of marrow. The red sauce needed some help but adding a little cheese and a pinch of salt made it decent. The food wasn't great but was good. The atmosphere was really nice and service was excellent.

Try it for atmosphere, service and people watching.

went to TA's about a month ago. it was packed and trapped in time. looks the same as pre-K, complete w/private room w/naked light bulb hanging over table. menus looked like they survived the flood...can't remember if the prices were the same though.

EAC,
Why would you take "a hit" for that suggestion? People should dine where they like.

I was thinking of Tony Angello's also. I grew up 3 blocks away from there and we went often. I went a month before the great hurricane of 05 but not since (unfortunately). I would think it's the same. It has kind of that old fashioned retro Italian feel. Not cuttign edge modern, that's for sure...The wine room, with the lightbulb, it is neat....
The stuffed shrimp, eggplant sticks, eggplant tina, lemon icebox pie, the Italian bread, it certainly has its place IMO....

Sorry to hear that Jag. La Boca has certainly ruined me. I agree with you on going there, but you knew that!

Leonardo's was on the long list. Oh well.

edible complex wrote:if you still have a hankering for Italian, go to Cafe Di Blasi. thouroughly enjoyed dinner there a few weeks ago. oysters remoulade, oyster artichoke soup, osso buco, braciolone, angel hair w/red gravy, fetts alfredo.

for carbonara, I go to Fausto's. but never get a go box and microwave the next day. leftovers will separate and will show the evils of butter and cream, unless you're on lipitor.

I'll have to 2nd Di Blasi's - I love that place. It's not fancy by any means & I've been going to there family's restaurants since my mid teens.
It's comfortable - and it's comfort food. Lunch is a super deal.
In fact, if anyone wants to go to Di Blasi's for lunch this week, I'm game.
Let me dig out a menu & see which day is best. They have specials & some days are better than others. I think Wed & Thurs are my fav days.

I also like Fausto's & been going there for years, but not so much lately. Think I've only been one post K. Need to remedy that.

If I ever reheat carbonara or alfredo, I have a certain way to do so it won't separate. I do it in a toaster oven, yes, with a pizza stone. Get the oven good & hot. You can preheat a plate of some sort in there (a pyrex pie plate is perfect, better is stoneware that you can eat out of). Put the room temperature carbonara/fettucini in the preheated pie plate & toss around. Then stick it in the hot oven but don't turn it on again. Let sit in the oven for 3 min or so. Keep a close eye on it & maybe toss it around once more half way thru. It will be at the perfect temp to eat right away & will get cold soon, so eat it! No separation. It won't be hot, hot, but it's the only way I have found that actually works without killing it.

TA's has it's place. I personally like it. But I think it really helps to go with others that can appreciate all of it's qualities.
I took a friend for his birthday once, hoping to expose him to the big wide world outside of chain restaurants.
Perhaps it was too much culture shock - TA's is what I felt would be something just the opposite of a chain. It was lost on him & he moped the whole time.

Actually I am 3 for 3. After two crappy meals with JAG, I went to a rum dinner at Cochon on Thursday Night. The dinner was in the private dinning area. I am not a big hard liquor guy but I had been to a tequila dinner before and loved it. C-Note is a big rum guy and so when I heard about it, I invited him.

The food was very uninspiring. We started off with a plate of deviled eggs which were paired with a bacon infused old fashioned. This was moderately creative and I loved the drink but I am not a huge deviled egg fan.

All four of the rums were poured at the start of the meal. They were to be drunk straight. There wasn't much direction as to which rum was paired with what course. The rep from the liquor store droned on and on about the rums, I wanted to friggin' eat. But he kept bloviating. We were seated a big table and I sat next to these two women who were there with their husbands and clearly didn't want to be here. So I stepped in. While the rum guy was droning on and on, the lady to my immediate right helped herself to some bread (I was thinking of doing this as well) and put her bread on my bread plate. To which I say in a hoity toity voice "Excuuuuuuuse me, but I must ask, what finishing school did you attend where they taught you to put the bread on the plate to your right? You obviously went to Choate."

They found this pretty humourous, so I beat this joke into the ground the rest of the night. After finally getting our salads, I say "Now, I know you went to Choate, but at Exeter we learned that you start with the outside fork and work your way in." The salad was spinach with a pepper jelly vingarette which was by far the best course. It totally had a ton of flavor and the spinach didn't taste like it came out of a paper bag. I think we were supposed to drink a white rum with it, but that was totally lost in the translation.

The next course was a standard Donald Link unoriginal. Grilled andouille with Louisiana chiles and carmelized onions over creamy grits. While it was good, it was hardly great. After I had to stand and reach the center of the big table to get some water, I stated "You know I don't know hoooowwww you had at Choate but at Exeter, we had a manservant to refill out water glass at all times."

After this we had another uncreative but solid dish. It was a braised pork loin with a dark brown sauce over cabbage and bacon. The cabbage was awesome. I could have eaten a whole plate of the side dish. The pork was ok but I wouldn't order it, if it were on the menu.

The finally course was terrific. It was a peach tart and it was accompanied by a sort of This was by far the best course. The custard of the tarty was rich and creamy and gave a great mouth feel. The peach was sliced and Link was smart to do nothing to it as it was fresh and flavorful. It was served with a peach mojito or something. I took like three sips and moved back to prep school routine.

"I'll be seeing you ladies at the regatta this year, I take it." They found this pretty funny.

I think because I am not the biggest fan of drinking hard liquor straight, this dinner wasn't designed for me. Nonetheless, I kept an open mind but it just didn't wow me.

I'm in for a lunch at Cafe DiBlasi! It's 2 minutes from my work!

Ok! I have to find a new office this week & if all goes well, lunch by Wed or Thurs. I'll PM my email address to you.