Locanda Vini e Olii

Brooklyn is far. So far that I almost finished an entire People magazine in one trip. Also I had the time to ponder how far away Brooklyn was. In fact, it was so far that we had to drive. But that was OK. I knew we were in for a great meal, and I also knew that we had some great company, some of my parents friends, Tod and David. After I exited the car, I was not able to find the restaurant, since the name of it looked like it was placed upon a drugstore's awning. We entered the dim room and immediately saw our hosts. We were quickly informed that they had ordered the six-course tasting menu that everyone was going to share. After waiting for about ten more minutes, the dishes arrived. In fact, I will tell you about my favorites only, or else most of you would spend an hour reading about them. One of my favorites was the shrimp with black chick peas because it was unique and new, and I had never had something so scrumptious before at an Italian restaurant. I loved the calamari in the tomato sauce, as well as the Branzino, as both tasted like they had been plucked from the sea only minutes before we devoured it. I also loved beef carrpaccio with roasted porcini mushrooms because it was fresh and flavorful. However, I thought that the Kitchen over-powered the dishes, over-spicing them. I found the service to be slow, and I also noticed that you felt important in the restaurant, but that was not due to the help. The decor was beautiful and rustic, and it made the restaurant much more welcoming. I really liked the meal we had that was made up of pasta, meat and seafood, but I also found the dessert delicious. I ordered a cake that was like a cookie. It was hard, fresh, energizing and crunchy, but it also had a very concentrated flavor. Overall, I would give Vini e Olii 7.4/10.