Dinner with the girls!!

Last night Erica, Amanda and I had a wonderful dinner at Sportello. Sportello is Barbara Lynch's interpretation of the lunch counter and has some the tastiest Italian food in the city. I had the pleasure of being part of the Sportello team last year and met some great people while there. Sportello was a unique restaurant experience, having both a dine in and a bakery/cafe part to the restaurant. There are many mornings now that I wish I were back there enjoying some rosemary raisin toast with cheese and fruit and chatting with Amanda about her adventures from the night before! Working at Sportello made me solidify my dream to open a bakery/cafe and it also made me realize how much I had learned over the years about business, food and management. When I look back, I feel lucky to have been able to work with Chef Barbara and sit in meetings with her and the other managers while we brainstormed ideas about the retail area of Sportello. It really was a great experience and so was our dinner last night.

Erica and I started the night early at Papagayo (I will save that for another blog). We met Amanda for drinks at Drink before we went to eat dinner. I order a dark and stormy, which was spicy from the house made ginger beer. At around eight we made our way upstairs to Sportello and were seated in Haileys section. As always, we started with some sparkling and looked over the menu. I always stick to the classics when I eat at Sportello, Bolognese or Gnocchi, but tonight we were going to try some new menu items. To start we had the Vongole Misto, which had mussels, clams, periwinkles, potatoes and an herb aioli. This dish was fresh and light with really good flavor. I liked that there were periwinkles in the misto because I haven't had them since my grandmother were alive. Hailey sent out the calamari with garbanzos, and pea pesto. The calamari were tender and slightly buttery. For our pasta course we tried the smoke potato agnolloti with black trumpets, hedge hog and Monte Veronese. Erica and I were hoping they would be as delicious as the ones at No. 9 Park. These were soft potato filled pillows tossed with the mushrooms and cheese. We both agreed the dish was delicious, but the ones at No. 9 were perfection, no disrespect to Sportello. For our main course, we enjoyed the Crescent duck breast with swiss chard, marinated peppers and potatoes. Let me just say this duck had the crispiest, most delicious skin I have ever tasted on duck. The duck was also kept rare and when eaten with all the components on the plate, tasted sweet and sour (agro dolce). With our meal we enjoyed a bottle of the Sportello Barbera. I left full and inspired by the food.

The night couldn't end with just dinner. We enjoyed another drink across the street at Luckys and then headed home. It was another great night with the ladies. Erica and Amanda thanks for being the two most perfect dates! Hailey, what can I say, you crack me up, miss working with all you girls!

Thanks Sportello for a delicious meal...