| rev:text
| - I didn't have reservations, so I scoured the Palazzo's site for a dinner house, and stumbled on CarneVino. It's Mario Batali's place, aside from B & B, so I figured hurray! Maybe it will be like Pizzeria Mozza. NOPE. It was more like Osteria Mozza, but meatier, and sticker shock. Now, we're staying at the Palazzo and had Joel Robuchon reservations, so prize isn't an issue. When you're expecting it. I'll pay $10 for ice cream when I know it's $10 ice cream.
Mr. V was also not in a terrific mood - mostly due to not being able to hear the waiter well with his heavy accent and low voice, so when he didn't understand the way that the per person for two prices were laid out, his cage was rattled - so the meal wasn't as pleasant as I had wished.
I ordered a house glass of white wine because CarneVino is a place where bottles are ordered, and Mr. V doesn't drink wine. I ordered the prosciutto with melon slices, which was absolutely wonderful. The prosciutto was so delicately sliced and just the right amount of salty. The melon slices were soft and juicy, not overly sweet/ripe, and made a nice after bite when I was done with the prosciutto. I didn't role them much, just enjoyed the pink slices with my fingers and glass of wine.
Now, having been to Batali's two Mozzas in LA, I've had his egg ravioli, his ragus, his octopus, his cheeses, and I'm not going to eat a porterhouse steak by myself. All their steak offerings were just too large for me. So I went with his seafood stew, which was very similar to cioppino. If anything, that's what it was without being called that. It was spicier than I'd anticipated, so it actually upset my stomach. That's not the stew's fault, but my own for not eating much throughout the day that wasn't done through a straw. The head-on shrimp (two in two days!) was the best part of it though. No matter the upsetness of my belly, I was not letting that guy leave my table uneaten. It was good overall, but would've liked less spicy. Or been told it would be spicy.
Mr. V ordered the 20oz pork loin, bone-in. Now, pork is strange in the way that you want it fully cooked, but not...well done, so to speak. So there's a delicate balance between juicy and tough with the white meats. Mr. V immediately said "chef's preference", but the waiter hung back and said that maybe it was a little pink. Pink on pork is not really that appetizing, so Mr. V said medium, and the waiter bowed his head and left. Well, bad idea. Because the pork was tough - and this was AFTER Mr. V had given his okay to however it should be cooked! I was actually astonished, and almost wanted to send it back FOR him. But the charred edges with caramelized butter were so, so good. He ate the entire thing, so it wasn't so bad. But definitely not what I would've expected, especially AFTER the waiter had advised against Mr. V's wishes.
The restaurant was okay - and as usual, I'd like to give places more than one chance because every place/couple have a bad night. Mr. V was not happy though, and I can definitely understand why.
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