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VINNY VERELLI

SPEAKER ⋅ CHEF ⋅ HUMORIST

A Fabulous Dinner in Plano

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

I was waiting for some photos and forgot that I had started this post on February 2. Here it is.

I’ve been preparing for the 2012 NSA Winter Conference in Dallas (actually Plano, TX)  and have been remiss in my posting. Although I haven’t been doing much cooking I have been doing some eating.

Had a great meal tonight at Nicola’s Restorante Italiano with two great pals; John Bledsoe and Patrick Donadio.  It was Patrick’s birthday and wanted to do a shout out to a really good friend.

It was a Thursday night so there was no wait and although the restaurant considers it’s design “opulent,” we didn’t feel underdressed. The menu included the traditional fare that you would see at an Italian restaurant, but with a fresher approach and taste. All pasta is hand made on-premise and groceries are delivered twice a day to insure only market-fresh ingredients are prepared.

GNOCCHI AL FORNO
Potato dumplings, prosciutto cotto, Fontina & Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses baked in our wood burning oven $14. I love gnocchi event when it’s hard but this was light and tender and the flavor was immense. The bite site dumplings were lightly coated, not drenched in the cheese sauce.

PORCO BUCO
Their signature slow-roasted pork shank with gorgonzola polenta & rosemary reduction $24. Now I’m a big eater, and yes we had two appetizers, but that usually doesn’t stop me from eating my entire entree and then splitting a desert. I could not finish the Porco Buco. When it arrived I could only stare at it in amazement, sitting there looking like the sculpture of the Devils Tower made by Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. The pepper mill hovering over the plate like the mother ship.

SCALOPPINE DI VITELLO
Patrick had the Pan-seared veal medallions in mushroom & Marsala wine sauce, $25. The sauce was delicate and the veal scrumptious, melting in your mouth. Patrick had no problem finishing his veal.

We were a little upset that they didn’t bring a cannoli with a cancel for Patrick’s birthday  but we got over it and Patrick went back to the restaurant for their lunch special. On Friday you got a bowl of squash soup, caesar salad, roast chicken on a bed of greens with a lemon caper sauce and a cannoli, still no candle. All for $12.95

The $12.95 Lunch Special


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