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It’s January, post holiday malaise and bitterly cold.
I HAD to get out of the house!i ping’d Anna Marie (a saint who always comes through for me ;-)) and she suggested to avoid traffic associated with a steelers rally, we not meet in the city or north shore, our usual hangouts – i suggested Lawrenceville and she remembered a quaint place that had a good happy hour. I called Matteos, spoke to a nice gentleman, found they were open and had drinks, appetizers and pizza on HH special. We agreed to meet around 5:30 and i arrived to find a few folks in the place and took a seat at the bar. The bartender Kaitlyn (sp?) was very nice, but quite busy already- i later learned she was taking care of the bar, waiting tables and training someone. It took multiple questions from multiple people to understand our HH options and what was specially priced and what was not – the latter ending with a seemingly frustrated short answer of “ok, we can do a pizza for $10, but only one topping! and i shut up and sipped my martini (this last from a women who was surprisingly and openly giving a stern lecture about her expectations to the young trainee – at the bar). It will just suffice to say that while the food was pretty good (we had a stuffed mushroom, greens n beans, and mussels in a horseradish cream sauce that Anna Marie had before and loved – and while eclectic, i agree that the sauce was very good) – we had to wait with empty glasses, renegotiate the mistakes in the bill and bailed early. We walked 2 blocks down, as i’d noticed passing my all time favorite Morcilla on the way and i’m SO glad we did, as it turned the attitude of the evening around a full 180!
The place was packed, warm and upbeat, service was awesome and we had a really nice bourbon drink i’d had the first time we came in late last summer – Gran Paseo (wish i had pics and a previously written post about THAT great eve!). We had been raving for months about a summer seasonal small plate – a green tomato, fresh peach and cheese dish we’d had that night and while trying to remember it, i asked Jennifer (alias Stephanie ;-)) if she remembered and she pulled out her little moleskine notebook and read the ingredients to me! and even, at AM’s suggestion, let me snap a pic! – it was Idazabel cheese, also had marcona almonds and was finished with a sherry vinaigrette and fresh basil. TO DIE FOR – even in my memory.
We finished the evening feeling MUCH better finally … chatting in a warm and friendly atmosphere which was just what we needed! (tho i deeply regretted being full – i couldn’t even make a trip to the baño without remarking on how WONDERFUL it smelled to walk near the kitchen!
Can’t WAIT until the next time i can go back hungry, and really hoping that summer special reappears this year!
simply amazing place.
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