Category Archives: Italian

Ending the Holidays

Going back to work last week after the holidays was rough! I don’t think my brain was fully functional at any point during the workweek. Luckily, I made it to both the gym and the weekend, so overall I consider the week a success. Today we took down our Christmas decorations, officially bringing an end to the Christmas season.

Right before everyone was off for Christmas, my department at work partook in our own holiday celebration. As with every social activity at my office, our team’s celebration revolved around food. We started out with lunch at Bravo Italian Kitchen on Restaurant Row. Of course our meal started with some delicious bread, then we were given an option between soup or salad and our choice of entree.

I started with the Italian Wedding Soup, which had meatballs and spinach in a savory chicken broth. The soup was very light and packed a lot of flavor.

Bravo-Italian Wedding Soup

I think I may need to attempt a recipe for this soon. I loved the little meatballs.

For my entree, I ordered Mama’s Lasagna Bolognese. The description promised a giant portion, so naturally, I was pretty excited.

Bravo-Mama's Lasagna Bolognese

The description did not lie. I only managed to get through about half of the dish. The lasagna had layers of noodles with meat sauce and then was topped with alfredo sauce. The alfredo sauce added a nice richness, but overall I found the dish to be too salty. When I went to eat my leftovers the next day, the dish tasted even saltier. The concept was delicious, but there was just too much salt added.

Luckily, dessert came next. They gave our group multiple dessert platters that each had bread pudding, tiramisu and molten chocolate cake.

Bravo-Desserts

They were all delicious, but my favorite was the bread pudding. Lunch was so fun, and our celebration had only just began. Next we headed to the next complex over to Farris & Foster’s, a chocolate shop, to learn how to make our own chocolate.

Farris and Fosters

We each got to make a pound of whatever types of chocolate we chose. We could use chocolate molds, make chocolates filled with any variety of fillings or send items through a chocolate conveyor belt to be drenched in chocolate.

Farris and Fosters 2

The session was a lot of fun. My chocolatier skills leave much to be desired, but in the end, everything tasted great.

Group

Our team outing was such a fun way to kick off the holiday season. I just can’t believe it’s now ending!

What is your favorite type of chocolate? I love dark chocolate paired with something salty.

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Filed under Dessert, Italian, Restaurant Row, Sand Lake

Run and Won

Il Pescatore is a neighborhood Italian restaurant near us that people often talk about. We headed over for a quick weeknight dinner. Their menu is pretty vast and has typical Italian dishes.

Regardless of the Italian restaurant, Kevin has a tendency to gravitate toward pepperoni pizza. The pizza looked very greasy, but he said it was decent.

Il Pescatore-Pepperoni Pizza

My meal started with a side house salad with their house dressing, raspberry vinaigrette.

Il Pescatore-House Salad

For my main course, I ordered vitello alla scaloppine, veal medallions sautéed with mushrooms in a white wine sauce, which came with a side of spaghetti.

Il Pescatore-Vitello Alla Scaloppine

Il Pescatore-Spaghetti Side

The veal was good. The meat was tender, and the sauce had a lot of flavor from the mushrooms. I was actually disappointed in the spaghetti sauce. It tasted just like typical jarred sauce that was lacking seasonings and herbs.

All in all, I’d say our meal was fairly average, but I’m willing to give it another shot since I have heard that people really seem to like Il Pescatore.

Last weekend was full of small victories. On Saturday, UF had its homecoming game. Piece of cake right? We played the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (I know, who?), and it ended up being the closest game of our season. We literally won in the last two seconds of the game. In the middle of the game, I finally had to get up in the middle of the game to blow off some steam on the treadmill. I channeled my aggression to my run, and it worked. I had a great run and the Gators won!

treadmill

Later that day, Kevin and I headed to my first Orlando Solar Bears game. They are our professional hockey team, and this is their first season back after a hiatus. We got really good seats right up close to the action.

hockey

When I lived in Indiana, we used to go to hockey games fairly often, but I haven’t been since I was young. Not much seems to have changed, including the numerous fights. We saw one guy get a broken nose!

fight

We left at the end of the second period (out of three) when the Solar Bears were losing 3 to 0. We must have been bad luck because after we left, they came back and ended up winning 5 to 3. The game was really fun and fast paced. I’m excited to go to more games now that they’re back.

What is your favorite sport to watch in person?

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Filed under Italian, Milk District, Sports

Celebrating 27

Yesterday (on 10/11/12!) I turned 27 years old—crazy. My birthday snuck up on me this year. I have been so busy preparing for the wedding and working a lot that it just didn’t feel like it should already be mid-October and my birthday season. The company I work for gives a birthday holiday, so I took yesterday off work and decided to take today off as well for an extra long birthday weekend. Kevin also took the two days off, and it was wonderful to spend the time with him.

My birthday started off spectacularly with a trip to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte then we were off to the courthouse to get our marriage license! It was a quick and easy process, and now all we need is for our officiant to sign the document on our big day.

After “getting married,” we headed out to lunch with Parko to take advantage of not being at work on a gorgeous Thursday.

Anthony's-Lunch Special

We headed to Anthony’s in Thornton Park and sat outside. There was such a nice breeze, and it finally felt a little like October. We started out with an order of zucchini fries.

Anthony's-Zucchini Fries

They were a little on the salty side, but the zucchini inside was delicious.

I ordered the two-slice lunch special with meatball pizza. Kevin ordered two slices of Sicilian pepperoni.

Anthony's-Meatball Pizza 

Anthony's-Pepperoni Sicilian Pizza

It was great to spend the afternoon with my boys. I really wanted to keep this year’s birthday low key. Things have been very hectic, so it was nice to slow down and just enjoy a relaxing day.

Parko

Later that evening Kevin took me out for an amazing dinner at Chez Vincent in Winter Park. It is an upscale, traditional French restaurant. The ambiance was so nice and I really just wanted to enjoy my birthday and my evening out with Kevin, so I didn’t take any photos. But I did enjoy a glass of red wine, the majority of a bread basket with three different types of butter, escargot in garlic butter sauce, rack of lamb with blue cheese sauce and a chocolate raspberry soufflé. Kevin ordered their filet mignon topped with peppercorns and a cognac sauce and partook in the soufflé. It was a very romantic evening, and the food was so mouthwatering.

I’m so excited that I still have two more days of freedom ahead! 26 was such a wonderful year full of wedding planning, taking my GMAT and lots of house projects to continue to build our home. I can’t wait to see what 27 brings. I have a feeling it will be my best year yet.

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Filed under French, Holiday, Italian, Thornton Park, Winter Park

Tolla’s

One of Kevin’s good childhood friends was in town for a wedding last weekend and stayed with us. We met up with some other friends and all grabbed dinner late Friday evening to kick off the weekend. Don’t worry, I got a Venti pumpkin spice latte in anticipation of staying awake past my bedtime.

We headed out to dinner at Tolla’s, a small Winter Park Italian Restaurant. It’s a very cute little restaurant that only serves beer and wine. They offer typical Italian favorites. We started out with a big pile of warm, crusty bread.

Tolla's-Bread

Since we got there pretty late, they were out of a few menu items for the day. Since they were out of mussels, I decided to order a meatball sub.

Tolla's-Meatball Parmigiana

The meatballs were very moist and had a nice texture compared to the toasted bread.

Kevin ordered a pepperoni pizza, which he really enjoyed.

Tolla's-Pepperoni Pizza

Everyone seemed to really enjoy their meals, and I liked the quaint atmosphere of Tolla’s.

I forgot to mention some important celebrations that happened recently! Last Thursday, Kevin and I celebrated our 3-year dating anniversary. I still keep trying to figure out if you’re supposed to celebrate dating anniversaries after you’re married. Kevin bought me a bottle of Quintessa (the wine he used to propose) and we just enjoyed a nice, quiet evening together.

Kevin and I

Family photo from June

Also, last Saturday, Parko turned 4! He’s really not a puppy anymore, even though his eyes beg to differ. He was showered with toys, treats and attention.

What is your policy on dating anniversaries after marriage?

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Filed under Italian, Winter Park

Armando’s

One thing I love about the Orlando area is all the old neighborhoods around town. I love the cobblestone roads and historical buildings. Kevin and I were in the Hannibal Square area, one of these older neighborhoods near swanky Park Avenue in Winter Park, and decided to stop for some dinner.

We decided to try Armando’s, an Italian restaurant and pizzeria. It sits on a cute corner, has plenty of outdoor dining and a bar that is half outside and half inside. The atmosphere was great and the aromas were enticing. Instead of waiting for a table, we just sat at the outdoor area of the bar.

We started out with a basket of warm, chewy bread.

Armando's-Bread

Kevin ordered rigatoni bolognese and loved it.

Armado's-Rigatoni Bolognese

I ordered the evening’s special, zuppa di pesce, a large variety of seafood with pasta in a spicy sauce.

Armando's-Zuppa di Pesce

The dish had calamari, fish, mussels, clams and scallops. The pasta was perfectly al dente. The meal was very hearty and filling. I was stuffed.

I love when we stumble upon new neighborhood finds. Their pizzas also looked really good, so I think a return trip is in store.

In less than three months, I’ll be a married woman! I can’t believe how quickly it all is approaching. This morning I had my first dress fitting.

Casa di Bella

I didn’t think I could love my dress any more until I started seeing it really fit to my measurements. It looked so good all pinned together at the proper lengths and dimensions. I can’t wait to see the final product, and more importantly, for Kevin to see it.

Do you prefer indoor or outdoor dining?

3 Comments

Filed under Italian, Wedding, Winter Park