It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and Booda and I were walking around the West Village looking for a place to dine al fresco. I could have eaten at any little trattoria around but Booda literally stopped and insisted we eat at Da Silvano, one of the tonier, celebrity clad restaurants in the city. Booda laid down at the entrance and would not move, isn’t that funny? So, I was like “ok, then this is where we will eat”.
The two specials sounded good so that’s what I got – lightly fried zucchini blossoms and white truffle pasta. I always enjoy the zucchini blossom creations at this time of the year and order white truffle pasta annually as a special treat. The wine list was just o.k. and I ordered a sparkling red wine, though the blend escapes me at the moment.
It was interesting to see Bar Pitti next door filled to the brim with patrons while Da Silvano, one of the original popular restaurants, was fairly empty. After my meal, I completely understood why.
As I was enjoying my sparkling wine, some well dressed male coke fiend patron came up to me and said it was so sad I was alone. I replied I wasn’t alone and pointed down to Booda and commented how he was much more interesting than most people. The coke fiend didn’t know what to say to that, so left with his tail between his legs, so to speak, and we were left alone to enjoy the sidewalk traffic. What a fool. Booda would have bit him had he been given the chance.
The zucchini blossoms arrived and they were fried beyond belief like I was eating at a TGI Fridays. It was quite disappointing. Then my pasta came and it had no flavor – since when does truffle pasta have no flavor? Those little guys are so pungent it is very hard to strip any remnant of flavor away from them. Well Da Silvano did, and it probably explains why the restaurant was empty when Bar Pitti next door was full. The sweet little waiter from Roma was so insistent on making me happy I couldn’t possibly tell him how crappy the meal was. Besides, I was enjoying the Sunday afternoon weather and dining al fresco while watching the neighborhood antics, so could deal with a less than perfect meal.
Total bill: $95 for one person and a complete waste of money for the food. I relayed the experience to my mother who replied, “that explains why their cookbook is selling for such little money on Amazon”. And to that statement I fully agree.
