Heaven - the non-knitty kind!

This blog post falls under the category of "other" - as in other than fiber stuff. Now that I've given you fair warning...

Last night, my sweetie took me to dinner at one of the top restaurants in and around DC, according to Washingtonian Magazine's 100 Very Best Restaurants 2007, which put Ristorante Tosca at #85. We had dined there last year with a group of friends during DC Restaurant Week, at which time our friend Nick ordered a sublime veal-and-prosciutto-stuffed ravioli dish, which all and sundry agreed was hands down the best choice.

We arrived about half an hour before our 8pm reservation, prepared to wait at the bar with a glass of wine, but we were immediately ushered to a table (this being a Monday). We ordered wine anyway, of course... Tosca has an extensive wine list with some very pricey bottles, and only a few available by the glass. We opted to get a glass of wine each rather than go for a full bottle; we agreed that would be a bit excessive for a Monday night! I ordered a glass of Chianti Classico Querciabella ('05, Toscana) that went very well with the rest of the meal, full-bodied but subtle enough not to overpower the food. My sweetie ordered what has become his favorite Italian wine variety since he had a superb glass of it when he took me to The Inn at Little Washington (#7) for my birthday dinner - Barbaresco Produttori del Barbaresco ('03, Piemonte).

We started off the meal with a take on a classic Italian appetizer/salad - mozzarella with tomatoes:
Mozzarella fior di latte su timballo di pomodori e peperoni rossi arrostiti con olive e olio al basilico Housemade cow’s milk mozzarella cheese on top of roasted tomatoes, red peppers and black olives.

The kitchen split the order into two separate servings, which was a very nice touch. The presentation was colorful and quite lovely, with generous wedges of red and golden yellow roasted tomatoes, julienne of red and yellow bell peppers, a sort of minced black olive relish or tappenade, a generous drizzle of vivid pesto, and a garnish of fragrant basil leaves. The taste almost lived up to the presentation... We agreed that the cow's milk mozzarella was a little too dense for our liking, compared to buffalo mozzarella we had tried on other occasions, but we were quite pleased with our (his) choice (he is obsessed with this dish and variations thereof).

My first choice would have been this:
Prosciutto San Daniele con fichi, insalatina di valeriana e crostino di fegato alla Toscana Imported San Daniele ham with Black mission figs, Mache salad and Tuscan style chicken liver croutons

This particular dish is marked with the notation that it is a "Chef Signature Dish." Perhaps next time...

My sweetie, unable to shake the memory of Nick's stellar meal, ordered the only veal-prosciutto ravioli dish on the menu, yet another Chef Signature Dish:
Ravioli di vitello e prosciutto con il sugo d’arrosto al burro, salvia e Parmigiano Ravioli filled with roasted veal and prosciutto with a red wine reduction, butter, fresh sage and Parmesan cheese

We were unable to determine whether the preparation was exactly the same as Nick's dish, but my sweetie certainly enjoyed each bite - and I enjoyed both bites that he was able to bring himself to share!

I ordered a Chef Signature Dish pasta dish as well:
Tortelli di ragu alla Bolognese e ricotta di bufala con ragu di funghi Porcini e Barilotto Tortelli filled with veal ragu and Buffalo ricotta sautéed with Porcini mushrooms and butter sauce

Though I was able to finish only about half the dish (plus the two tortelli I passed over to my sweetie in exchange for his ravioli), I thoroughly enjoyed every bit, even though I am ordinarily not a big fan of ricotta. The Porcini mushrooms were a very nice touch, with a lovely silky texture and a subtle earthy flavor that complemented the rich flavor of the butter sauce and the meaty, savory flavor of the pasta filling.

To conclude our meal, we shared a dessert that I knew my sweetie would like as soon as I read the description:
Mousse al burro di arachidi con salsina alle carote e gelato alla vaniglia Peanut butter mousse with carrot sauce and vanilla ice cream

(My sweetie is very fond of peanut butter mousse dishes. To date, our favorite is the peanut butter-chocolate mousse pie we had at The Boulevard Woodgrill in Clarendon, VA.)

The mousse was a tad too sweet for my liking, but my sweetie seemed to enjoy it a great deal. I was glad of the French press (decaffeinated) coffee I had ordered - and he seemed to enjoy his cappuccino. The carrot sauce, which had given both of us pause as we perused the dessert menu, was a bit of a puzzle to us. It looked a bit like thoroughly pureed carrot baby food. It had a very faint sweet taste, as would be expected from something made from carrots, but the overall flavor was bland and weak. The vanilla ice cream was your normal, average, everyday vanilla ice cream. Perhaps the carrot sauce was intended to offset the strong sweetness of the peanut butter mousse and vanilla ice cream, but the dish ended up an odd juxtaposition of flavors, and the carrot sauce was just plain odd.

The dessert was not my favorite course, but the rest of the meal (especially the main course) was so delicious that we left wanting to return. We especially want to try the Pre-Theater Tasting Menu - first and second courses, plus dessert, for $35. The only potential wrench in our as-yet-hypothetical plans is that this menu is offered only between 5:30 and 7:00pm daily. Hmm... Play hooky from work one day? ;o)