Anteprima

For Crystal's birthday this past weekend, we went to a great Tuscan restaurant up in Andersonville.  This is on the north side of the city and an area we do not frequent enough.  My friend and co-worker Brad had been talking up Anteprima for quite some time now and I have read a lot of great things about it.  Needless to say we were very excited to try the restaurant and it did not disappoint.

Let's recap the meal:

The restaurant brought out an amuse bouche, which was a vegetable tart.  It was a lot like a quiche and was a tasty first bite.   We decided to kick the night off with some cocktails and they were interesting; Crystal had Cynar, mixed with lemon juice and soda -- we had no idea what it was, but it was refreshing.  Later research indicated that it was a very popular drink in Europe.  I had a martini with fresh lemon juice and rosemary.  Very good, but I probably prefer a dirty martini, but this was good too.

For starters, we shared the grilled octopus (shown below) and the orichette pasta.  I need to discuss the octopus for a second, because it was phenomenal.  I have been craving it from the second the last bite was finished, I want more of this and I want it now.  It had a nice acidic vinaigrette spooned over perfectly grilled octupus.  It also had razor thin sliced fingerling potatoes and some peppers and chilis mixed in on the side.  It had such a nice balance and the octopus had a nice grilled flavor, but it did not overpower the dish.  The orichette was also well made, it had a house made lamb sausage, pecorino cheese and some chili flakes.  It was quite spicy, but again not in a way that overpowered the dish.  It was a smaller portion, so glad we got it as a starter, but was a nice dish I would try again.

On to the entree portion of the meal, Crystal had a sliced New York Strip which was served with wilted arugula and shaved parmasean cheese.  It was interesting that they put the arugula almost raw on the plate, but the plate comes out very hot, so it wilts as you are digging into the steak.  The strip was cooked nicely and was very tender and juicy.  I had the lamb chops, which were cut super thin, almost like they took a lamb chop and cut it in half lengthwise.  The flavor was outstanding and the sides may have been even better.  It came with a soft gargonzola polenta and spinach.  Excellent.  We enjoyed our meat dishes with a Barolo wine from Italy and it complimented the rich food very nicely.

Dessert was also very good, Crystal had a chocolate hazelnut tart and I had the lemon panna cotta.  I am not a huge panna cotta fan, but this was excellent.  Would definitely order it again when I return.  Crystal's was also delicious, the crust was great and it had a nice rich flavor.  If you like chocolate and hazelnuts, this was for you.

A great birthday dinner for Crystal and an exciting new find.  Looking forward to returning.