Bricco - Italian, Harrisburg Style

I hit Bricco for dinner the other night. Apparently they have a partnership with the local culinary school. And, honestly, you could sort of tell. Lots of good ideas that were not executed so well. With almost every dish there were good things, and, unfortunately, there were not so good things. Except the dessert. It was adorable! The restaurant itself was really nice. Great layout, lots of space, nice bar and awesome chef's table. The prices were reasonable, and the portion sizes were very large.

Here's what I had:
Caponata
Salted roasted beets with goat cheese and pistachios
Pappardelle with duck and pancetta
Risotto with beef short ribs and mushrooms
Adorable mascarpone cheesecake square

And...here are my thoughts on the food:
The caponata was very sweet. Not what I was expecting, but good on the crostini it was served with.

The salted roasted beets were a miss. The combination of beets+goat cheese+pistachios just didn't work. The beets were, as beets are prone to be, very sweet. But the goat cheese didn't really do anything to off set that. And the pistachios were added on whole (at the most slightly chopped), which meant that you would occasionally get a pistachio, but it wasn't evenly distributed. So. eh. This dish didn't really work for me.

The pappardelle was rather interesting. I was really excited about this dish, but as it turns out, I just don't think pappardelle was the right pasta for the sauce. The sauce was hearty, and a penne would have probably been a better pair. Pappardelle are wide noodles. The sauce was also a little too salty. I think the chef underestimated the salt factor of the pancetta. But, man, this was close to being a delicious sauce. And they were generous with the duck and pancetta. So, if this dish was made by a culinary school student, then they're getting close!

I'm starting to wonder if I've gotten sensitive to salt. Because I had a soup at another local restaurant a few weeks ago, and sent it back based on the fact that it was way too salty (in fairness my friend sent hers back, too). I just said the last dish was salty, and, finally, I thought that the major failing of this dish was that it was a bit too salty. But, as far as risottos go, this was otherwise very good. The texture was creamy, the dish was hearty, and the short ribs were cooked perfectly. So, aside from the fact that I thought they'd gone just a touch heavy on the salt, this was a good effort.

Finally, just a little note on the dessert. They had two dessert menus. One for full size desserts, and another that featured what I'd describe as tapas-style desserts. And those little desserts were the perfect size and price, not to mention the fact that the one I ordered was delicious!

So, while I wouldn't say this restaurant is the best Italian I've ever had (I'm lookin' at you, Perbacco) I'll certainly go back and try other things.

Restaurant Review - Alvaro's Bakery

The scene: Harrisburg, in the residential neighborhood a little more than a mile from downtown. Also, and conveniently, a four block walk from my apartment! Hence, you may see other posts in the future, to update on different menu items as I try them out. This is really just a corner shop, with a few tables outdoors and a few tables indoors.

The food: We ordered the eggplant Parmesan special for lunch. This was simply delicious, even if it was served on a styrofoam plate. I want to start with the pasta first. It was clearly homemade, so it was thick, and a little chewy in a very pleasant way, with a flavorful tomato sauce. The pasta actually reminded me a little of spaetzle, which was a good thing, because I love spaetzle.

The eggplant parm was superb. It was very lightly breaded and fried, and then the large piece of eggplant was folded and "stuffed" with ricotta cheese that had some herbs blended into it. It was served smoking hot, which posed a bit of a problem because it was so delicious I wanted to eat it all and very quickly.

After we finished our surprisingly good pasta, we decided to finish the meal off with gelato. These guys make the gelato in the shop and serve it up fresh, which is pretty fantastic. The vanilla had just been put out, so it was at its peak. It was creamy and and not overly sweet. I decided to go with the lemon. It was much more like granita than gelato, which on a hot day was just fine with me. I'll definitely go back and try different flavors in the future. Although, speaking of, I do wish they had labels telling you what the flavors are!

The price: Good value. The eggplant parm special was $7.99, and the gelato was about $2.50. Worth it for the quality of the food we had. I'll have to try some of their other things, to see if the price:quality ratio holds true.

The service: You shouldn't have high expectations of fancy service here, since its really more like a deli/bakery than a restaurant. But the people who worked in the shop were friendly, and efficient. And that's really all that matters.

Final thoughts: I'll probably be a regular at this place. Convenient location for me, and the food was worth it. I'll certainly be back to try some of the very pretty pastries they had in the display case!

Restaurant Review - Perbacco

The scene: Financial District of San Francisco, a few blocks from Union Square. This place was packed on a Friday night, so if you want to go make sure you have a reservation. There is a bar at the front where you can have a drink while waiting for your table. The tables were comfortably spaced, the décor was both cozy and modern. There were exposed brick walls, which gave the place a lot of character.

The meal: Perbacco does Italian the way it should be done. Fresh ingredients, thick sauces, colorful combinations, and big, big flavors. We did a bit of family style ordering, so everyone at the table shared the starters. The restaurant actually offers family style pasta servings, which they will plate for you.

We started with a tomato salad, and a fritto misto. The tomato salad had a wonderful variety of colorful tomatoes. Red, yellow, green. Small, medium, large. It was drizzled with basalmic and olive oil, and lightly seasoned. The tomatoes were delicious. Flavorful and juicy. While I can’t be sure they were locally sourced, they had the taste of locally sourced and recently picked. (I’ve become a tomato snob. I can taste the difference between a homegrown tomato and a store bought one.) The fritto misto involved a number of “fried” items, the feature being “fried” rock shrimp. Why “fried” and not just fried, you ask? Because these were more tempura style than the type of frying you imagine when you think of fried seafood starters. The batter was thin and light, and really highlighted the flavor of the food. The plate also featured “fried” green beans and green olives. The olives were unbelievable. It was served with a lemon aioli, which was nice, but could have used just a touch more lemon, I thought.

So. That was the starters. Ready for dinner?

We did a trio of pastas. We went with the gnocchi, a tagliatelli, and a ravioli. It was a nice spectrum, and the plate was extremely colorful. The gnocchi was in a cream sauce with wild mushrooms. Delicious. I thought the gnocchi was a little softer than I usually prefer, but the flavors were right on. The tagliatelli was in a pesto suace, and had sautéed summer squash and haricot vert mixed in. It was much heartier than gnocchi, with deeper flavors. Finally, the ravioli was in a light cream sauce that had summer peas, which give it just a hint of green. Great color palate. The ravioli was delicate and delicious, stuffed with a lemon flavored ricotta. Not the clunky stuff you may be used to. We also ordered two sides. The roasted fingerling potatoes, which I would describe as unremarkable. And the brussel sprouts. Oh the brussel sprouts! Hands down my favorite part of this meal. They were roasted in brown butter and seasoned with a honey mustard of some sort. Absolutely delicious. I can’t possibly rave about these enough. Wowowow.

For dessert we had the doughnuts with the salted caramel sauce. The doughnuts had a great flavor, although I thought they were either a little heavy or baked slightly too long. The sauce was heavy on the salt. Don’t dunk your entire doughnut deep into it, or you will not enjoy that bite. But just a little sauce on the doughnut was nice. It was a bachelorette party, and so they brought out an interesting dessert. Mascarpone semifreddo. It was round, and looked a bit like cheesecake. But it was not. And it was not panna cotta. It was creamy. Not exactly ice cream, but served chilled. It was freaking delicious, with its diced nectarines and blueberries. They also served hazelnut cookies that were really light (main ingredient was air). It was a great way to end a dense and filling meal.

The service: Five stars. Impeccable. Our waitress was attentive, knowledgeable, friendly, and concerned about our experience. Umberto, the manager, stopped by our table to welcome us to his restaurant. The excellent service really made this a great experience.

The price: Reasonable. Don’t remember seeing anything over $30 on the menu. The Pasta tris was $18 per person, with fair portion sizes. They had heartier entrees which looked really delicious, too. Quail. I love quail.

The highlights: The brussel sprouts. Get them. Love them. Oh, and a comprehensive wine list, featuring lots of different prices and options. The sommelier made a wonderful recommendation for us, that was at a reasonable price.

Final thoughts: Best Italian food I’ve ever had. Trust me, you’ll never want to go to Olive Garden again.