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| Gamberoni in Camicia |
Finally it's restaurant week! I searched hundreds of restaurants (literally) to find the perfect place to dine. On this crisp winter night my friend and I finally decided to go to
Firenze Osteria owned by Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani...and the excitement stopped there. We arrived to a quaint little restaurant in NoHo. It was a Sunday night, busy but not packed. We didn't make reservations so we expected a wait. The owner/host Jacopo was training a girl to be a hostess, no problem everyone has to learn sometime. When we arrived at 7:00pm he told us that there was a 15-20 minute wait and to sit at the bar. Again no problem, I saw a few empty tables when we arrived but figured maybe those people had reservations so we waited..... and waited... and waited. While we were starving at the bar, Jacopo schmoozed with all the regular patrons which would have been fine if we weren't waiting 30 minutes! He was standing right next to us talking to some people at the bar and I was trying to wait my turn and get his attention, but he didn't look my way. So I finally got up and asked the hostess if there were any available tables yet. She apologized for the wait and said yes. Do you know that she gave us the same table that was empty when we first got there??? WTF?!?! I always joke that anytime I bring a friend of another race with me they either seat us in the back or by the restroom, well this time they just forgot about my black ass altogether! LMAO So me and my Latina girlfriend were seated (finally) and took a look all the Lily white faces of the patrons in the restaurant, not sure if that's why we waited so long but it kinda makes you wonder, Huh? We got bread and beverages promptly and I asked for the
DineLA menu. I decided upon the Gamberoni in Camicia (Grilled Jumbo Shrimp),Agnello ai Pistacchi(Herb Encrusted Rack of Lamb) as an entree and Flourless Chocolate Cake for dessert. My friend opted for soup and salad so I was havin' DineLA fun by myself. The first course came out promptly and it was so tasty, jumbo shrimp stuffed with Gorgonzola, wrapped with pancetta, over sautéed garlic spinach and herbs and Parmesan polenta. It was so good I wish there was more.
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| Agnello ai Pistacchi |
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| Flourless Chocolate Cake |
The main course didn't come out as fast, in fact are server was pretty slow all night long and by this time there weren't as many people in the restaurant. Any who, I asked for my lamb medium well and it still came out a little rarer than I would have liked, so I asked them to cook it a little more. The second time it came out it was great, it was also prepared with braised pistachios which was awesome, never had anything like it before. Then for the finale my chocolate cake, it was served with vanilla gelato and coffee cream. The cake was perfect, so soft and moist that it just melts in your mouth! To sum things up I was not impressed with this flourishing tavern. They had small portions, over-priced food and crappy service! Deal or no deal for $34 I expect way more than we got that night! Would I come back? Maybe, but probably just for cocktails, they looked awesome! This the last week of
DineLA people, so please pretty please get out there and try somethin' new!
Firenze Osteria
4212 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91602
818.760.7081
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