So, once upon a time, I ate a large amount of Italian food. In fact, I ate so much of it that I was no longer interested in having it - ever.
Therefore, it was quite a surprise to me when, upon browsing through the food recommendation section of the Encore Hotel & Casino entertainment book this past weekend, that my gaze settled upon a little place called "Sinatra" - and I wanted to go there!
My date and I arrived and of course, since it was a Sunday, I didn't make reservations. There simply isn't a need and this was in fact evident based on the number of folks there.
For pre-dinner drinks we selected The Dream - a signature cocktail - and a glass of sauvignon blanc. Nothing special here.
I've been on an appetizer kick lately, sampling only appetizers. I feel this allows me to sample the most items and I can also closely meter how much food I'm eating.
We started with a lovely basket of parmesan breadsticks, parmesan flatbread, and whole wheat bread. It was good, but honestly, nothing special.
After we moved on to the mains.
Polpettine - housemade meatballs with polenta fries. The housemade meatballs were OK. Ikea meatballs are slightly better IMO, but....THE POLENTA FRIES! They were soooo good. In fact, I would order this dish again in a heartbeat just for them.
Frank's Clams Posilipo - clams in tomato sauce with garlic and oregano. Delicious. Exactly what I expected. Flawlessly executed.
My date got the Agnolotti, which is small pasta pockets filled with bufala ricotta, herbs, asparagus sauce. It was rich, but truly sublime. Small pockets of pasta, with a delicate sauce, that explode perfectly in your mouth as you eat them.
Due to the fact that we had bottle service somewhere after we declined to eat further, but I can only imagine. I expect to be back here in December when I return to the Encore.