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Monday, February 21, 2011

Just For Adults: Date Night At Mama Stortinis Restaurant And Bar


We were looking forward to our date to Mama Stortinis all week, our late Valentine's Day dinner. The reservation was for 7pm so we weren't surprised we were told it would be a few minutes. During the next 20 minutes, however we watched parties of two, three, four and five most without reservations being seated almost immediately.  Finally, at 7:05pm we questioned the hostess as to when our table would be ready. She apologized profusely and said we'd been "overlooked". 
   Having our night begin this way gave us doubts about the rest of the nights experience. Our booth was comfortable and lighted with a low light sconce. Our server arrived just as we were being seated, John was not only personable but very knowledgeable about the menu. We had warm sourdough slices smothered in garlic butter and ice water in seconds. Another few minutes he brought our Parmesan Crusted Zucchini Crisps with Cucumber-Garlic Sauce, a tasty generous appetizer. Our night was looking up!
   Our next course was a Chicken and Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette. My mouth waters as I recall the fresh mixed greens, fresh pear, lightly coated with the Maple Vinaigrette, candied walnuts, roasted chicken and Maytag blue cheese crumbles.

When our main entrees arrived we had just barely finished out salads. The portions were huge and we immediately knew we would be having some delicious left-overs for the next day.  My husband had Tortellini , tomatoes, spinach, red peppers and toasted almonds coated generously with creamy Alfredo sauce. The flavors were incredibly balanced with quality ingredients.
    I had the Baked Chicken Cannelloni. Pasta filled with roasted chicken, sauteed onions, mushrooms, ricotta and mozzarella, topped with marinara and garlic cream sauce. The filling was overpowered by the onions but still very delicious. The sauces were thick and extremely flavorful. 
 We always like to share something from the desert menu when we are first trying out a new restaurant. So we chose the Tiramisu. It was creamy, rummy and decadent, a perfect punctuation to our night.

While our night began a bit bumpy, (it never sits well to be "overlooked"), our server John kept the food coming at a perfect pace and our drinks filled. The pricing was moderately high but most dishes offered a choice of smaller portions, and we love left-overs. The ambiance with the traditional Italian music, wine choices and low lighted dining made this a great romantic evening. 


2 comments:

  1. That dinner sounds absolutely delicious! Sounds like you had a great night!

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  2. Oh yuuuuuuuuuuuum, that sounds delicious! I'm sitting here cobbling together a meal of leftovers, and you know what they say about hunger being the best sauce. I want to jump through the screen and eat *your* leftovers!

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