My Birthday Dinner No. 2 - Italian Eatery

 In my previous post - The Story So Far - I noted that one of the things that happened during 2021 was that I had a birthday. Not just any birthday. I turned 70. 

When I was a kid, my parents (or at least my mother) usually made a big deal about birthdays for me and my siblings. But Mom and Dad never made much of a big deal about their own birthdays. So I suppose it's not surprising that in my adult years, I also never made much to-do about my birthday. While I was still working, I usually would still go to work. My wife and I would have a nice birthday dinner out at a restaurant sometime in the relatively close vicinity of the actual birth date. 

But, 70 is a bigger deal. So it justified having multiple birthday dinners. (Stay tuned for Nos. 3 and 4.)

When I rebooted this blog, after a 14-month hiatus, I decided to give up any pretense that my restaurant posts are actual 'reviews.' Restaurant reviewers have standards and a process for evaluating a restaurant, its ambiance, food, service, value, etc. You won't find that in Krik's Picks. These are just my very personal and subjective experiences, usually about a single visit to a restaurant. 

My birthday dinner No. 2 was in early December at Italian Eatery in South Minneapolis. It was excellent! I mean really delicious, enjoyable, and praiseworthy. 

My wife and I started by sharing a starter - roasted "zucca". It was delicata squash sliced thin and long, roasted with just a bit of char on it. It was topped with sheep's milk cheese, cherries and a pomegranate sauce. 

Pasta meals + wine

From there we went on to our main courses. We both ordered a pasta. The spaghettini nero immediately appealed to my wife. It's squid ink black pasta with scallops, shrimp, squid, and mussels. On the menu, the pasta is served with an arrabbiata sauce, which can be kind of spicy. She doesn't like spicy. But our server offered to check with the chef to see if the dish could be served with a non-spicy sauce. Ecco! Her pasta was served with a pomodoro sauce like they serve on their spaghetti dish. She loved it!

I asked our server for advice on my meal. I couldn't decide between a rigatoni dish with fennel sausage or mushroom cappelletti with a cream sauce. The server suggested the cappelletti but with the fennel sausage added on. I said "OK" and that's what he served. It didn't really need the sausage on the mushroom dish. But it was very tasty. 

As a side dish, we ordered Calabrian cauliflower. The flavors were great, and it was pretty spicy, so my wife didn't eat much of it. We brought about half of it home, and I enjoyed it the next day with my lunch. 

Dessert & amaro

For wine, we ordered by the glass. The restaurant has a nice selection of Italian wine. My wife had a Super Tuscan. I was worried that it would be too heavy with the seafood in her pasta dish. But the server thought it would go well, and she liked it. At the server's suggestion, I ordered a glass of Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore. It's a variety that I've had before, and it complemented my pasta very well.

You're probably picking up a theme here. Our server was really excellent. His attention and advice really helped to make the evening special. But the best was yet to come. 

When I made the reservation, I did note that it was my birthday. So at the end of the meal, the server brought us a generous two-scoops of gelato and for me, an amaro. I topped it all off with an espresso. 

It was such an enjoyable evening, that we decided that we should bring our adult children there. There are many more menu items that deserve to be sampled. (Full disclosure - our daughter is already a fan. She was the one who recommended it in the first place.) 

Post script: Just for the record, my birthday was on Thanksgiving Day. Hence, my No. 1 birthday dinner was Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. Here's the photo. 

Thanksgiving/Birthday dinner