First Post!

We've had some great meals lately, since we've been trying to get our foodie tendencies satisfied before the baby arrives.
In the past several weeks, the restaurants of note we've been to are Vetri, Amada and Melograno. All were excellent, but I especially enjoyed Vetri and Melograno.

The meals were not particularly healthy, but definitely tasty. Since Vetri and Melograno were my favorite, I'm recapping those.

Vetri's menu changes seasonally, and they had their Spring menu when we went. While Vetri is famous for their multi-course tasting menu, we decided to go a la carte. For an appetizer, we shared the spinach gnocchi in a brown butter sauce topped with shaved ricotta and for our main entree, we shared the whole roasted branzino with truffle sauce and brussel sprouts. Everything was superb, from the food, to the ambiance, to the service. If you've ever watched the Food Network's show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, we both agreed the brussel sprouts were probably the best brussel sprouts we've ever eaten along with being one of the best vegetable dishes we've ever tried in general.

We actually went to Melograno's twice, it was easier on the wallet than Vetri, and the food is superb as well. Both times we shared the salad of the day, which had arugula, fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes and pine nuts in it, tossed with a lemony vinaigrette. The one change between the two times we had it, seemed to be that once it was topped with asparagus, while the next time there was no vegetable topping. On our first visit, I had the Pappardelle Al Ragu di Cinghiale, which was a braised wild boar bolognese atop handmade pasta. On the second visit, I had the Pappardelle Tartufate, which was a wild mushroom sauce infused with truffle oil along with a smattering of walnuts over the same handmade pasta that was in the Cinghiale dish. Both dishes were oh so tasty and recommendable, but I think I preferred the Tartufate at the end of the day. The mushrooms flavored with the truffle oil made for a wonderful combination. Plus, until I got pregnant, I wasn't the biggest meat eater, so I tend to favor vegetarian dishes over meat dishes, especially when they're well crafted like the Tartufate was.
As a side note, the cuisine at Melograno is also very authentic Italian. I had first eaten Cinghiale when we went to Florence and had eaten something similar to the Tartufate when we were in Rome. While the Cinghiale was slightly better in Italy, the Tartufate in Rome seemed to be one big olive oil slick with an over-powering amount of truffles. At Melograno's, everything melded perfectly together.

So for a special night out, Vetri is the best choice, however if you're looking for a still excellent but more low key dining experience, you can't go wrong with Melograno.