all good things come from italy

louise fili : 

image from fullernes

this past week, i got off work earlier than usual, so of course that meant i celebrated with FOOD.

italian food to be specific:

on wednesday:
nick, zack and i went to max soha, a place that tiffany recommended on her blog and it just happened to be super close to my house. we sat outside on the patio, which was just lovely. nick and i ordered bruschetta for an appetizer and we were sold. the tomatoes were so fresh and so delicious. then we ordered the spaghetti carbanora thanks to tiffany's recommendation again, as well as a confirmation from our waiter. it was way good. i had been crazing some good italian and it hit the spot for sure. afterwards, since we just couldn't part with max yet we ordered desert. one apple tart, one tiramisu, and one cheesecake. the cheesecake was the only one worth the money and the calories. and the tiramisu was sad, a sorry attempt. so we say, 3.8/5 for food, but skip over elsewhere for desert.
thank you tiff!

on thursday:
nick, kent, cassie, melissa, jenny, and i went to grotta azzurra over in little italy. the first day i met cassie she was raving about gnocchi. i had tried it before but didn't remember it being mind blowing. so grotta azzurra had expectations to live up to for sure, especially considering the fact that i had just had italian the night before. when we arrived, they brought out some bread with a yummy olive spread. and i could tell the meal was headed in the right direction. for an appetizer, nick and i split a caprese salad. their mozzeralla, with prefect red, juicy tomatoes and fresh basil was right on. but then the real magic happened. gnocchi from grotta azzurra will rock you. cassie knew what she was talking about. perfecty paired with a light fresh tomato sauce and fresh house made mozzerella cheese, the combination seemed sinful. a 4.5/5 for the gnocchi alone from me!
thank you cassie!