January
2007 – La Conca D’Oro
7.06 - 7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7, 7,
6.75, 6.75, 6.5
A
typical cold, clear night, although not typical at all for the season so far,
greeted DP8 as we headed to the Monteverds for pre-dinner noshing. As usual,
there was a plethora of food (why do we go out anyway?) from the ordinary cheese
and crackers to luscious fresh fruit and nuts, along with mini pizza slices and
mini dogs. We reviewed and admired the newest volume of DP8 which showed off
Judy's incredible art work -- all of us at a round table (our favorite) in
caricature. A few of us gathered at the roaring fireplace to try and resist some
of the temptation while the girls surveyed the new bedroom furniture upstairs,
along with the newest room under “pre-construction remodeling”. Then off we
went to a group pick – local, close and already a firm favorite of some of us,
La Conca D’Oro.
We got our favorite,
round table seating, which is good here because the acoustics are on the bad
side. Our waitress, Lauren, greeted us with a smile and the recapitulation of
the dinner specials without having to look at her pad – quite impressive given
the variety of specials. Drinks included the usual -- a couple Diet Cokes, a
pinot grigio, a carafe of the house Chianti and a carafe of the house Merlot
(after the Chianti was declared not quite up to par). The continuation of the
“Brazilian” conversation continued over fresh hot bread from the pizza oven
and appetizers of carpaccio (raw veal marinated in lemon juice and served with
shaved parmesan) and fresh mozzarella with sun-dried tomatoes. Food disappeared,
as usual… Salads came dressed in a variety of ways – many chose the Italian
with crumbled blue cheese, while other stayed with the tried and true house
dressing – creamy dill and garlic. Both were declared very good.
Dinner arrived after a
comfortable wait. After much consideration (that would be hemming and hawing),
Tim settled on the Chicken Francais which he declared excellent. Don went with a
special of seafood cassoulet with a mashed potato garnish, claiming it good but
nothing to write home about. Judy enjoyed a special of lobster contadina (clams,
mussels, shrimp and lobster over linguine in a marinara sauce) and it
disappeared and I heard no complaints. Ken went out on a limb with the buffalo
steak special, which he said was quite good. Deb T went her normal route when
it’s an option - the scallops of course, which looked awesome. Kriss went with
the fried shrimp which she enjoyed, Chay had his usual “Conca” dinner of
shrimp fra diavlo over linguine which I know he always enjoys. Deb K, after some
hemming and hawing of her own, went with one of her regular favorites, stuff
sole parm – yum.
You would think after all that
food there would be no room for dessert and some made the choice of abstaining
– sissies I say!!! There were those of us however, who enjoyed the chocolate
lava cake (awesome), chocolate mousse (just right after that meal), white
chocolate covered raspberry sorbet (good), apple crisp (not that crisp said
Kenny, a bit of a disappointment) or, in the alternative, their regular after
dinner drinks – Frangelica and Sambuca.
The
Up Side
Always
an up side is the company – the laughter, the catching up, the stories, the
“waxing” education. I thought Lauren did a great job, one of our better
servers in DP8 history – efficient, good at refilling the coffee (she got the
hint right away which is more than I can say for previous servers) and the water
glasses, friendly and even able to banter back and forth a bit with those of us
that get a little rambunctious at dinner! Overall, food was good to great –
always a plus. And the price tag came in under a $100 a couple, not bad for a
first rate meal.
The
Down Side
It
was dark that night – in the restaurant, I mean, more so than usual many of us
thought, which made it hard for us “old people” to read the menu (some of us
even borrowed Ken’s magnifier/light). Ken’s dessert was less than perfect
and, as customary at Conca, the noise level is always a problem. However, with
the corner round table, we insulated ourselves from that to the greatest extent
possible.
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It appears unanimous that La Conca D’Oro will remain a staple in many of our dining choices. The food, service and proximity to home make it an easy ‘go to’ decision for fine dining.