Went for Bertucci's a while ago. They added some new seafood stuff on their menu.


shrimp scampi appetizer


veal picatta I think I'm starting to like Bertucci's less. Their rolls are damn good, but I'm realizing that the entrees and stuff really aren't that cheap. Carlo's down the street has far superior food... it's a proper restaurant, and now that I think of it something like a chicken or veal marsala is about the same price. Gonna go there again soon - went once and didn't have my camera. The rolls at Bertucci's are still awesome though. About the rolls though... a lot of people know one of my pet peeves is the "too-friendly chain service" that Bertucci's exemplifies so well. The first time I went to Bertucci's, the waiter asked if it was the first time we were there, and naturally we said yes. Little did I know he would go into a 5 minute tirade about how at Bertucci's, they want to create the authentic Italian experience. The rolls came, and he went on and on about how in Italy people eat bread with olive oil. We could even season it with some salt if we wanted to! The next time I went, it was the first time for someone else, and imagine that - the same thing happened. Now I'm sure to say no every time. Gimme a break guys, you're a chain Italian place that focuses on decent brick-oven pizza. The food snob side of me wants to smack those waiters and demand some balsamic vinegar. I appreciate friendly service at these not-fast-food-but-sit-down-chain restaurants, but often it's so obviously prepared/trained that it's just weird.

We had a sort of small pre birthday dinner last Sunday at Maggiano's Little Italy with me, Becky, Mike, Dave, Ahrie, Keith, Val, Yuen, and Ginger.


roasted mahi mahi


veal and mushroom ravioli


rigatoni with chicken and mushroom It was pretty good. Mike and Keith both had the mahi mahi and it was good and they both liked it - I haven't had mahi mahi in a while. I had the ravioli. It turnes out it was baked and was on the rich/creamy side, but it was alright. Becky had the rigatoni which I thought was better. They have a "family style" option for $24 a person that looks like a ton of food... gonna try it some time when there's more hungry people.

Got quite a bit to update. I'll start with lunch yesterday at the Armani Cafe on Newbury, inside Emporio.


buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto


skillet-roasted mussels


bucatini carbonara


gnocchi with chicken cacciatore I must say this meal was very good! I'd never been before. There's an Armani Cafe at the store in San Francisco too, but I've never been there either. I always thought it was a weird/interesting idea to have a restaurant inside a shop like that. Everything was really good though. Mozzarella was tasty, mussels were great (and the juice/sauce with the piece of bread was awesome). The gnocchi was fluffy and the chicken was tender (even the white meat!). Gotta go for now, big updating coming soon again.