radiantbaby | Buon San Valentino: Valentine's at di Paolo

NOTE: I apologize in advance for any bad grammar and such. I have been writing this post on and off since Tuesday morning while working, so it's not been a very seamless writing experience...

Oh, and this is all pretty long and mostly for me to remember my first Valentine's with my sweetie, justben. Please don't mind all the extra detail.

I was never much of a Valentine's Day person. It was not so much the idea of the day that bothered me, more so my personal experience of it. I actually don't mind having a day to express my love for my lover and, of course the other 364 days or so aren't off limits for such adulations, I just think its nice (plus, if you know me, I love any excuse I can get to give gifts and such to my lovers).

As for my experiences in the past, I suppose they started early with the dreaded Valentine's Day exchange one would have in school. Of course in the early grades you would often get Valentine's cards from people just because you were pretty much told to bring one for everyone in the class. Even then though, it was obvious that certain people were getting more attention and such than others were (namely myself). As years passed, the "Valentines" I received were less and less. Even when I had boyfriends, the day wasn't that great as it generally involved me making some grand overture of love to/for them (making dinner or doing something extravagant), only to have it received with a shrug of disinterest (as I told

justben, I had one guy that I made this French Provencal cheese-encrusted chicken -- with some help as I'd never cooked a whole chicken -- with all these Provencal appetizers and the guy just sort of looked at me as if I were weird and wanted to go out and get a burger instead).

Anyway, the point is that I had pretty much given up on Valentine's Day being a day where I did something nice for my sweetie-of-the-time and it was appreciated. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting for this year's Valentine's Day now that I am dating

justben. I mean, he has never been known for grand gestures of romance, but he usually tells me that I am appreciated and that he loves me and that is always good. Still, I was thinking that I would have at least been happy with him liking the little gift that I got him -- a poster print of one of his favorite paintings, Parrish's "Ecstasy" (which I still need to get framed) -- and if he did anything for me, that would just be extra, but not really expected.

We had been speaking a few weeks about where to go for our Valentine's dinner. We were very sad to find out that the location of our first official date, The Roasted Garlic restaurant, was now closed. Still,

justben was determined to find some place else and soon he did, though he kept it a secret from me until we got there last night. He even teased and teased about keeping our destination a secret until it became almost a running joke where I would throw out ridiculous "guesses" (Waffle House, Huddle House, McDonald's, etc).

Anyway,

justben arrived at my place around 7:00 (reservations were for 7:45). I gave him the poster and he seemed really excited about his gift (yay!). Then we rushed out as he said he wasn't entirely sure where our dinner destination was as he'd never eaten there, so he wanted to give us plenty of time to get there.

The night was very foggy and I have to admit I was a bit worried that we were going to get lost and have trouble getting to the restaurant. On the drive,

justben still would not tell me where we were going, so I just basically knew that we were heading down Jimmy Carter and then onto Holcomb Bridge Road. Soon into the drive,

justben turned the car into a strip-mall on the left and we parked. Before us was a restaurant called di Paolo.

I had heard of it before, probably from reading through my Zagat guide (it was rated the best Italian restaurant in Atlanta in Zagat), but had never been there.

justben related a story that while he had been there, the time he was there they were not open yet, but the smells in the place were enough to draw him back to try it. I am very glad it did as well, it turned out to be a very wonderful choice.

We made our way inside, 20 minutes or so too early for our reservations. We spoke briefly with the hostess and she had us sit over in the bar area to await our table being ready. It gave us some time to take in the ambience of the place. Near the bar area, it was open to the kitchen and you could see the chefs cooking and preparing the food. The smells coming from that area were intoxicating. The restaurant was lit with a low yellowish light and the tables were simple and made of wood. Over the dining area there hung a large painting of a monk enjoying some pasta. He made me somewhat envious, for I was quite ready to eat as well after only having a small lunch that day.

There were various people at the bar by us (mostly couples), eating dinner and such. Once one such couple left, there were two open seats at the bar. Some of the other waiting patrons inquired about the seats and the bartender replied that they were being held for a reservation. For a moment, we got a bit worried -- what if we weren't going to get a real table? What if we were going to have to sit at the bar? As the time for our reservation grew even closer and we saw another couple get seated in the dining area that also had a 7:45 reservation, things were a little worrisome for a moment. Luckily just after the hostess sat that couple, she came over to get us and began to lead us to a table as well. *phew!*

Once seated, we took a look at the menus -- a general Winter one (they have seasonal menus) and a special Valentine's day one. It seemed a bit overwhelming with appetizers, first and second courses, and desserts. Luckily, a few minutes later our server, Colin, arrived. We ordered two glasses of wine (Renzo Masi '01 -which ended up being very good) and quizzed him a bit about how to order properly (mostly because we weren't really sure of the portion sizes). He replied that there was really no wrong or right way to order, that some people split things or just eat one of the first courses or one of the second courses. We decided to have a small appetizer and first course split between us both to get a better idea of the portion sizes (and on the contingency that we would order more if needed). Colin was very patient with us and went to put in our order.

The food (and yes,

pucketrn, I have the menus, LOL -- I will not be held accountable for bad grammar on the menu though as it's word-for-word):

APPETIZER:
Insalata di Pera e Noce:
"WHITE WINE POACHED PEARS, GORGONZOLA, AND WALNUTS, OVER ARUGULA, IN A PEAR VINAIGRETTE"

FIRST COURSE:
Fettuccine alla Mascarpone e Pollo
"FETTUCCINE TOSSED WITH ROASTED CHICKEN AND WHITE TRUFFLE MASCARPONE"

The appetizer was really very good and am interesting combination of flavor and texture. Though the description doesn't mention spinach, along with the Arugula there was certainly spinach in the salad. Surprisingly enough, a man who never eats any greens,

justben ate his entire portion of the salad and even enjoyed it.

Soon after we finished our appetizer, our first course arrived, split onto two plates. This was another great dish, very creamy and full of flavor. I thought that the mascarpone cheese really added to this dish, as well as they delicate flavor of the white truffles. We knew after we finished our dish though that we would probably need to have our own individual second courses. Colin, our ever-patient waiter, took our orders for these dishes.

SECOND COURSE:
Me:
Pollo Arrosto con Salsa di Ciliegia:
"HICKORY-ROASTED CHICKEN STUFFED WITH SPINACH AND RICOTTA, OVER A SWEET POTATO GRATIN AND SAUTEED ASPARAGUS, FINISHED WITH A RED WINE-CHERRY PAN JUS"

justben:
Costato di Maiale:
"BLACK PEPPER-SCENTED PORK CHOP OVER ROASTED POTATOES, CARMELIZED VIDALIA ONION RINGS AND SHAVED BLACK TRUFFLES, FINISHED WITH A DARK DEMI-GLAZE"

Of course I feel like I am being entirely too repetitive, but our second course dishes were both amazingly good! Mine was slightly more sweet with the sweet potatoes as a large portion of it, while

justben's was more savory. Another big moment for the night was that

justben ate the potatoes in his dish -- if you don't know

justben, he is really not a fan of potatoes, in fact he is known for saying "potatoes are something that happens to other people." Of course they were very good and tender new potatoes, so perhaps that is what swayed him, but it was still cool to see him eat them!

We finished most of our respective dishes, leaving a little room in our tummies for some dessert. I asked for a to-go box for my leftovers, which ended up being entirely too cute of a folded box with a little "di Paolo" sticker on it. After that we looked at both the dessert menu as well as the dessert specials on the Valentine's Day menu. As many of you know, I am not much of a sweets person, but it was a special day so we debated about splitting something. Our original decision of just Zabaglione con Frutta di Bosco (see below) was changed though once I found they had carrot cake though.

DESSERT:
Me:
Torta Carota:
"Warm Carrot Cake With A Brown Sugar-Mascarpone Gelato And A Golden Raisin Caramel"

justben:
Zabaglione con Frutta di Bosco:
"Chilled martini glass layered with white chocolate zabaglione, marsala marinated berries and shaved white chocolate"

justben's dessert looked really good and he seemed to really enjoy it. Mine was also quite nice, though I had to take part of it home with my leftovers as I was just entirely too full to eat any more. We decided that we should return to di Paolo sometime, if only just to have dessert.

Soon our waiter Colin brought our check and we thanked him for his patience and great service. He was also nice enough to let me have a copy of both the special Valentine's menu and the Winter menu as keepsakes (yay!). It was sad to see it all ending, but it was still a nice 2 hours or so of dining.

justben paid the bill and then filled out the customer comment card. For service, on a scale of 1 to 5, he wrote in 6 & 7 and circled the 7.

After we finished everything, we headed back to my place in the fog and had a lovely evening of cuddling (and some naughtiness, of course) and such before bed.

It was such a lovely evening. I love you so much,

justben!