During Midtown Restaurant Week, Mario and I were looking for a restaurant we hadn’t visited with a menu that ventured beyond the chicken/fish/steak on most restaurant week menus. Enter Pacci Ristorante, a new-ish Italian eatery adjacent to the Hotel Palomar. The restaurant is so named for its signature carpaccios, none of which we actually tried on this visit (unfortunately). Despite that, we had a really excellent meal, which started with an amuse of watermelon and prosciutto with balsamic drizzle:

Melon/Prosciutto Amuse

Neither of us were particularly impressed with the amuse-bouche–the melon was sweet but the prosciutto was lackluster and a little overly chewy.

Luckily, from here our meal only improved, beginning with our appetizers: Watercress & Pear Salad (Parmesan tuile, Gorgonzola mousse, candied walnuts), and Papardelle Bolognese in a classic slow braised meat sauce.
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After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):
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Today was my department’s holiday party at school. There was a huge spread–8 trays of fried chicken, 3 platters of ham, 3 of mac and cheese–and it included some homemade dishes too. I decided to make these stuffed portobello mushrooms (appetizer sized) and forgot to take a picture of them! So I’ve yanked the one from Giada De Laurentiis’ recipe on Foodnetwork.com:

Stuffed Mushrooms

These stuffed mushrooms are soooo good!! I’ve made them with large portobello caps once before, and they could honestly be an entree by themselves as opposed to the appetizer Giada suggests. For the holiday party, I found smaller “stuffer-sized” portobello caps, and they came out great.
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I’m finally jumping on the Antico Pizza Napoletana bandwagon, though at this point it probably wouldn’t matter what I say since the ATL blogger community has already fallen head-over-heels for the place. With that said, 1) the pizza is as good as everyone says, and 2) I hope to approach this post from a slightly different angle–customer service. I’ve been the recipient of some bad restaurant service lately, and Antico is unfortunately on that list, but they did work quickly to rectify the situation.

Antico is located in the Home Park neighborhood near Georgia Tech. They have recently expanded their hours to include lunch and close “when the dough runs out” (my guess is somewhere around 9pm). Initially intended to be take-out only, they have also recently added a community dine-in table to allow customers to enjoy their pies on the spot. I think this was change was mainly blogger-fueled, since ATLiens are getting to be very picky about their crusts with the onset of the “ATL Pizza Wars” (Google that for some interesting commentary) and it tends to get soggy when carried home. I visited one Saturday evening to take my pizza to go since I live nearby and hoped it wouldn’t be soggy by the time I got home. I ordered the Capricciosa (mushroom, artichoke, prosciutto cotto, bufala) and a cannoli:

Capricciosa

Dessert Counter

And now for my customer service angle:
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I was in the mood for heavy Italian recently (but then again, when am I not?) and decided to make up some lasagna rolls again. I found a recipe from the only skinny cook I’ve ever seen, Giada De Laurentiis, via foodnetwork.com.

Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna Rolls

Unlike my previous batch, these are not vegetarian, they have yummy prosciutto mixed in to the filling.
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On a lonely Saturday evening, I decided to order out at Osteria Del Figo (or just Figo) for pasta. Figo is an Atlanta pasta chain that allows you to create your own dish by selecting the pasta type and sauce. With more than 15 types of pasta and as many sauces, the possibilities are endless. It’s also pretty cheap, so it’s perfect for my new grad student budget. This time, I tried artichoke ravioli in 4 cheese sauce:

Artichoke Ravioli in 4 Formaggi Sauce

(Update: Check after the jump for the difference between gelato and ice cream!)

After a day of outlet shopping with the family, I suggested we stop at a new gelateria I’d heard of through Baton Rouge blog Cuisine Rouge. Latte e Miele (Milk and Honey) is located on Highland Rd right outside the Baton Rouge country club.  They’re apparently new enough to not have a permanent sign up yet, but the place was bustling when we stopped in.

Latte e Miele Flyer

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As a decisive nod to my carnivorism, I decided to make this hearty recipe for Pepperoni Studded Lasagna from Guy Fieri I came across on foodnetwork.com. With two pounds of Italian sausage and a giant helping of pepperoni, this tray of lasagna is definitely meant for a crowd.

Pepperoni Studded Lasagna

Meaty Cheesy Goodness

This is not the “mean meaty lasagna” I referenced in my portobello rollups post, but a first-time experiment. First of all, the recipe makes a MASSIVE amount of lasanga (see the pan requirement–10x14x3-inch as opposed to the standard 9x14x2). I told myself I was going to cut back on the amounts of everything to make a smaller pan, but ended up using the large pan with scaled back ingredients instead (that’s what I get for grocery shopping/meal planning while on the phone with my mom). So, for the smaller pan, I’d suggest knocking off a third to a half of each ingredient. Additionally, to save time, I again used store-bought tomato sauce instead of making my own. I’ve decided I must just be scared to do it myself, though I’m sure it would turn out much more flavorful than canned. Next time!

Many fun things after the break, including first bites, more tips, and the actual recipe.
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Last Sunday while sitting in church I suddenly felt a strong urge to go vegetarian for a week.  And since when God speaks, I listen, I’m trying out these Portobello Lasagna Rollups for dinner.

Portobello Lasagna Rollups

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