Dinner At Bertoldi's

Last night I went out for dinner with Randi. She is working in London now and it's nice and conveinent this way. We met at the market and did a little cruisin' of the shops. I bought two cheeses, a Doux Peche from Quebec - it's similar to a Brie, and a 10 year old cheddar. I love extra old cheddar, it gets extra sharp and has a grainy-ness similar to Parmesan.

Randi found the Panang Curry she had been looking for. I would have loved to buy some flowers but the cats eat them.

We went for dinner to Bertoldi's which is a really popular Italian Restaurant here in town. I had never been there, but she had been a few times. We were slightly early for dinner, but there were already a few tables. Our server seemed a little inexperienced. She had to keep refering to her notes to tell us the specials. We both ordered some San Pelligrino and perused the menu.

We decided to share a caesar salad and two entrees. That way we would each get to taste.The salad was nice with panchetta instead of bacon and the dressing was nice and garlicy. There was fresh foccacia and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip for it. For our mains, we had the chicken and panchetta pasta and the vivaldi's pizza (dried tomato, artichoke hearts and basil.)Both dishes were fine, the pizza had a nice thin crust. The cream sauce on the pasta seemed a little insipid, but it was ok. They did have fresh parmesan available and it was grated with a microplane right at the table.

We were too full for dessert.Overall it was a fine dinner. I don't really think it was spectacular but it was better than some I have had. I do think I could do better at home, but I think that about a lot of places. I would get back, the food was decent and the price was fine (46$ for both of us). But there is no rush. I didn't find it so wonderful that I would rush back right away.

In an interesting side note, I was pretty over the top when it came to calories last night. I could have watched much better and avoided the bread. However, this morning I woke up and I am down 2 more pounds. I guess I need to wait and see the effects over a week.