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| - Hmmm. The service was very good, the ambiance was great for the summer with a nice patio complete with bocce ball court and a glassed wall that folds in to provide an airy interior; and the food was up to the standards you'd expect from a Dante restaurant.
But when we went there last Sunday we still came away shrugging our shoulders, unenthused. And I think it was because of the menu.
We wanted to take advantage of the unseasonably warm September weather so I figured we could sit on the patio and have a light pizza or maybe a summery pasta like spaghetti aglio e oilio. But the menu, while showing a pride in unique, modern takes on the classics, also tended toward the heavy side. The poster child for this would be the spaghetti and meatballs pizza (which could be great in the winter but we were lounging in the setting sun and 90-degree temps).
We first went with the breaded calamari appetizer which was spectacular -- the breading was light, the squid tender and the dipping sauce had just the right amount of heat.
As for drinks (yes, they arrived after the appetizer as we unfortunately sat down right before a shift change), I had a great Hemingway Daquiri, which usually is very tart but this one was more subtle. Jeannene has a glass of a crisp white wine.
As for the main course I went with the seafood pizza. The actual pizza was very thin and light (the server suggested because of that that we each order our own) but then there was the white cream sauce, cheese, tomatoes, greens and of course a heaping pile of shrimp, calamari, clams and anchovies. It also comes with olives, which I passed on. The pizza crust was nice and chewy but everything else wasn't anything special.
Jeannene went with a pizza full of cheese and honey with crumbled pistachios on top. It looked very pretty and if it had some meat in it I might have been tempted to try it. She liked it but also was not blown away by it.
We'll probably be back, maybe in the winter when comfort food is called for, though we won't be able to take advantage of the nice patio.
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