Verbano Italiano

Yesterday I suffered from food envy. Isom was stuck in traffic...again. This is our life. The upside is I get out of preparing (yes, preparing...it is definitely not fair to call it cooking) dinner, and I get blog material out of it...I guess. Last night we met at Verbano's across from Pearlridge. It is a small Italian restaurant that at five o'clock is completely empty. We had the manager as server, all to ourselves. Gabe ordered the cheese ravioli with red sauce---the adult portion and devoured it all...even sopping up the sauce with his bread. He was kind enough to share a bite with me. But that's it. One bite was all I got. Isom ordered the special. It consisted of eggplant, shrimp, and pasta with green olives, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus...mmm, why can't they have this on the regular menu?! I ordered the eggplant parmagiana. I have attempted to make this at home and failed miserably, so if the opportunity arises to eat it out, I go for it. It was very good, as it always is, but I was desperately wishing I had ordered what Isom got. The shrimp were perfection. Plump, juicy. Cooked well. Not over or underdone. The one olive and mushroom that Isom shared with me were fantastic too. Obviously he enjoyed his meal choice. I always enjoy Italian food. What's not to like about pasta and sauce. But somehow, I always forget that there are decent Italian restaurants here. Assagio's and Verbano's are both enjoyable. Maybe I should make a food resolution instead of a New Year resolution. Eat more Italian. No wonder Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about Italian food and spent months in Italy just eating. What a GREAT idea. If I wasn't bound by money, time, reality, then I would choose to spend months traveling to eat and write. I would begin by driving across country on a pizza quest. Stopping at all pizza joints to find that perfect slice--hitting up Chicago, New York, little known towns in Nebraska...wherever the the dough, sauce, and cheese beckoned. I would be Lance Armstrong in the tour de food. I would go to Germany for delicious beer. I would fly to Paris for world class pastries, cheeses, and breads. I would get really, really fat. I better just stick to traveling to Pearl City and back.

Comments

Mai said…
Uh yea... that special looks amazing. There's a Verbanos right down the street from our house, but I've never been. I just may have to give it a try.
March 5, 2010 at 1:00 AM
Larisa said…
Mai, I know you would have LOVED this feast. I've been to the Verbano in town. It was good too. Date night with Rob!
March 5, 2010 at 11:25 AM

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