I have never been "good" at internetting. Yes, that is a word. I have always been the person who checks her emails, checks her facebook, and - as of late - checks her google reader for recipes. That's about it. No newspapers to follow. No funny websites I frequent. My time could be bundled (minus my brief moments with you lovelies) into approx 15 minutes a day. Max. That makes my time here, alone, at night, difficult to spend. I am finding my way. Usually through food websites :D Sometimes through learning (getting into TED talks), and always through Hulu
Vincenzo's (West location):
Matt and I finally got to celebrate my birthday! We had been to Vincenzo's once previously and decided to give it a go again. I have a (bad) habit of looking at menus before we go to a restaraunt, but this time it was legit - Friday in Lent, I had to make sure they had good non-meat dishes. And they did. I had Matt call to make a reservation as our last trip there resulted in getting drinks at the bar and waiting with snobby West Omahaians. Sigh. My least favorite kind. Turns out that they don't take reservations for parties smaller than five. Yes, yes, I know there are both pros and cons of places doing this, but we were still slightly irked. Secondly, what a weird number...5? Really? Weird. Anyway, we said to heck and decided to beat the dinner rush.
We walk in shortly after 6pm to find enough open tables that we are sat immediately. Our waitress attended to us quickly but not in a rushing sort of way. I love having adult wait staff. They always make a place seem nicer. Matt ordered an old fashioned (I swear he is 65years old if a day); I got a diet soda (night float energy sap and all). As far as I could tell, he enjoyed it thoroughly, and my diet was filled quickly every time.
As we were going "all out" for my birthday, we got not one but TWO appetizers - the calamari and the mussels. The calamari was a little lack luster. While better with a little lemon on it, the lemon shouldn't make the calamari. It was cooked decently, but the breading just lacked pizzaz. The mussels where great. The sauce, while it looked like it might be heavy, was light and citrus-y. And had mushrooms in it. I love mushrooms.
The menu had a good range of traditional pastas, steak & chicken options, as well as baked pastas and salads. I was tempted by the spinach salad, but figured I only turn __ once. I dove into my meatless options and ordered the scallops farfalle. While usually not a gorgonzola fan, the sauce was perfect - creamy yet not too heavy, full of flavor yet paired well with the rest of the components. It was seasoned just right. My only complaint was that they didn't really mix the spinach in with everything; it sort of sat in a clump under some of the pasta. Matt got baked manicotti & cannelloni; while I chose not to taste, I believe him when he said it was great and filling.
And of course...dessert. Combining my love of chocolate with Matt's love of pecans, we ordered the chocolate tort with the pecan crust. When it came out, the crust was about 3/4" thick, the same thickness as the chocolate itself. :( But alas, they knew what they were doing. If that chocolate had been any more abundant I may have died. It was rich and smooth and worked well with the crunch of the pecan crust. Yum!!
Service: greatly above par especially as far as Omaha standards go. Our waitress was great even with some demanding tables around us
Ambiance: decor is on the verge of slightly aged but still clean and well put together; great lighting. I love good lighting when eating
Menu: basically your standard Italian choices but vast enough that everyone has an op
Taste: aside from the calamari, everything was great. While easy to overlook, seasoning was perfect
Overall: 4. I would definitely call this my favorite Italian in Omaha thus far
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