Eva

This is a great new place in Downtown. The small plate diner has been open for a couple months now. They say they serve Mediterranean food, but they seemed more strictly Italian to me.

The restaurant is fabulous! They have really cool, modern tables and chairs. Plus, some awesome artwork on the walls. I'm pretty sure it's from a local artist. The bright neon colors of the work bring in some much needed contrast with the dark wood of the tables, chairs and floor. The small space could easily be put to the test on a busy night, but there were only few tables when I was there so I had plenty of room.

Our server was a little shy, but she was great. She knew the menu really well and answered all our questions. She was helpful and made good recommendations. I wish I could remember her name.

For our appetizers we ordered calamari and french fries. The aioli was great! I'm pretty sure aioli is only code for fry sauce, but either way it was delicious. The calamari was fried perfectly nice and crispy breading surrounding a soft squid. Yummy! The fries had rosemary on them which is a stroke of genius. I must try this at home.

I ordered the octopus ravioli for my entree mostly because I'd never had octopus. It ended up being surprisingly good. Octopus is a little chewy, but the fried skin was nice and crispy. The texture paired really well with the artichoke pasta. I'm fairly certain the pasta was fresh and made by hand. It was fantastic! I would've been happy with just the ravioli and the sauce. The adventure of the octopus was just a plus.

Ava and Erin also had pasta entrees. I can't remember what they were, but I remember being impressed by the consistency of the dishes. All three were delicious! Like I said, homemade pasta.

When Ava, Erin and I were there last week they were still working on their alcohol menu so we had sodas instead.

All in all, I'm guessing our bill came under $50. I'm not sure because the fabulous Miss Ava bought us dinner. She is AMAZING! Oh yeah, and she has sexy, new hair to match.

If you're Downtown and want a quiet place for a sophisticated dinner, Eva would be a wonderful place. I hope you love it as much as I did!

Lunch in Europe

Atlantic Cafe
325 S. Main St.

Hours:
Monday--Thursday
10 a.m.--10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday
10 a.m.--midnight
Sunday
Closed

I've posted about this downtown cafe before, but Ava and I went by on Saturday for another fantastic lunch. We were starving and about two in the afternoon there were only a few other customers in the cafe. For the first time, we sat inside instead of on the patio. Spring is so close, but not quite here. *sigh*

I ordered the Margarita pizza and soda. Ava ordered coffee and the parma prosciutto panini. Our waitress was friendly and spoke in a mix of English and a language I didn't recognize. I've heard the owners are Bosnian so maybe she was speaking Croatian? Like all my experiences with Atlantic the service is prompt and very polite.

As always my pizza was delicious. Atlantic makes an obvious effort to use the freshest and best ingredients in their food. The mozzarella was high quality and melted to just the right amount of stringy. The basil and tomatoes were fresh and flavorful. The pizza really is big enough to serve as lunch for two, but it's so yummy I ate most of it on my own.

Ava's fries were yummy. They are very thin shoe-string french fries cooked just right. I like these fries best with some salt and pepper. Ava prefers them with ketchup. Also Ava is absolutely in love with their coffee. It was served in a very adorable saucer and cup and apparently is some of the best coffee in the city.

The panini was delicious. It was probably big enough to serve as lunch for two, but when the food is that good it's no surprise Ava ate the whole thing. Congrats! It was an amazing feat of tummy stretching.

My favorite part about Atlantic is for a moment you believe you are in a cafe in Europe. The staff is speaking a foreign language, the extra virgin olive oil label is in Arabic, there are chocolates you've never seen before and the other patrons are a wonderful mix of locals and tourists. The atmosphere is very warm and inviting.

In all for a pizza, panini, soda and coffee it came to just under $25. I believe Atlantic has raised their prices since I was there last September. However, they are still reasonably priced for the quality of the food, the portions and the overall experience.

Italian, again!

Cafe Trio
680 South 900 East

On Saturday afternoon, Ava and I decided to get out of our food rut. So we went back to an original and enjoyed some Italian. I had been to Cafe Trio once before for a lovely lunch on their patio. And I missed the sunshine Saturday, but I won't blame the restaurant. Silly nature, cursing us with winter!

We waited about five minutes before the host sat us. The wait made me really nervous about how the rest of the meal would go. But it must have been a fluke. Our server, Joshua was fabulous.

Cafe Trio was very clean and it had a nice vibe. We were there at an odd time of day, so there weren't many customers. But it still felt comfortable. The only complaint I have about ambiance is the music. A couple of the songs just didn't fit with the modern European feel.

Off the $7 cocktail menu, I had the Flirtini. It has vodka, raspberry syrup, lemon and sparkling white wine. Turns out the sugar rimmed glass with the sugary beverage was a little too sweet for my taste. The drink was as girly as the name implies.

Ava ordered an Amore. It's made with lemoncello, fresh strawberry puree and sparkling white wine. It was very yummy and definitely the better of the two. So next time, next time: the Amore will be mine.

Hahaha!

I ordered the Trio Club sandwich with the day's soup for $9. The soup was a split pea with sausage. It was a great winter time dish. I really enjoyed it's flavor and texture. It was surpringly creamy and rich.

The sandwich was delcious. The foccia bread was so yummy! I also enjoyed the melty cheese and tomatoes. I would recommend this sandwich to anyone who enjoys a more traditional club, for sure. It's a great example of American Italian cuisine.

Ava ordered the baked penner for $13. She loved it! She said, "I'm so full it hurts to move." The mushroom, cheese, tomatoe sauce and garlic combination looked and smelled delicious.

The best part was the piece of plastic wrap she pulled out of the sauce after eating most of the pasta.It's a still a mystery how the plastic wrap got there. I have some questions about Cafe Trio's food preparation now. How many people would never go back to a restaurant where they found plastic wrap in their food?

Yeah, me either. Maybe it's awful--like eating gum off the floor. But the rest of my Trio experience was so positive, I probably will go back to Cafe Trio someday.

Just not any day soon. They are expensive for my budget. Worth it, but still pricey. A giant thanks to Ava for lunch. I love you!

What's your favorite Italian lunch cafe?

Settebellos

Settebellos is an interesting place. There are only two locations in the world. Senior can be found in Las Vegas and junior is in Salt Lake. I've heard the restaurant lauded for their truly authentic Italian pizza. Pizza so Itlaian the closest thing you'll get to it is the real deal in Italy.

Everything is imported from Italy: every ingredient and even the head chef. Insane love of Napoli style pizza is what brought this place to Salt Lake City. As their menu and website will tell you, the founders of Settebello worked with a bunch of pizza-obsessed Italians to create a Vera Pizza Napoletana (an organization dedicated to preserving true Napoli pizza) certified pizza.

For an appetizer we started with foccacia, it was very good. It had a great texture and the right amount of rosemary flavor to balance with the extra virgin olive oil and peppper.

For our pizza we ordered a margherita with garlic and the house speciality: the settebello. Both were delicious. The crust cooked to a nice golden brown on top, the cheese melty and delicious. Even the tomato sauce was simple, sweet and delicious. The ingredients were all very fresh and very yummy.

Everything appeared very clean. But given the taste of burnt crust in my mouth they don't clean the oven. This really bothers me. Typically, I'm prepared to love any new place I try. I want to love Settebellos. I want to tell people they have the best pizza you can find in Salt Lake. But I can't. Please, please clean the oven so I can recommend Setebellos. I shouldn't get a mouthful of charcoal to complement my tomato, basil, mozarella and garlic bliss pizza. I'm pretty sure that much charcoal isn't tradition.

For dessert we had gelato. I ordered the lemon with raspberry and it was delicious. The right amount of tart with sour just the way I love it. The strawberry was delicious and the pistaccio was...well, pistaccio.

Our service was excellent. Our waiter was very friendly and very attentive. We didn't even have to wait to be seated. Settebello really is the kind of place you can go with your best friends and be as loud and obnoxious as you are at home and feel right at home.

You can find Settebellos at 260 South 200 West in Salt Lake or online at http://www.settebello.net/. Expect to pay about $11 for a pizza. All in all I'll give Settebello's a 9 out of 10 just clean your oven, please!