things you take for granted

I have been remiss in updating this blog, let's just say it's been a bit of a hectic week. I did have the opportunity to visit a (new to me) restaurant in Montclair, Trattoria Rustica located on Bloomfield Avenue near the intersection of Park. It was really fabulous, let me set the stage here. I took my father, his companion and my sister to this restaurant. They live in rural Florida and are used to the Italian restaurants that have linguine w/clam sauce, chicken parmigiana and stuffed shells. Now, there is nothing wrong with that type of traditional menu, some of my favorites actually. That is the type of menu they were expecting, but that is not the type of menu offered at the Trattoria Rustica.

We arrive at the restaurant and I should have known better, it was BYO and I didn't bring anything. So I left my family to look at the menu while I walked around the corner to pick up a bottle of wine. When I came back, my father, who was almost in panic mode, said that I had to explain the menu to them and that nothing looked familiar. It seemed familiar enough to me, but I guess even though the menu wasn't pedestrian, it seemed somewhat traditional to me. They had things like seared sea scallops over escarole and cannellini beans, gnocchi with roma tomatoes and mozzarella, veal milanese, cappellini with mixed vegetables, coconut crusted salmon over orzo. I think that living in an area where there are so many types of restaurants to choose from and many restaurants need to have more unique offerings in order to succeed, I get used to it. In fact, I was in shock when they said they didn't know what anything was (orzo? gnocchi? seems like regular fare to me). I realize now that these are some of the things I forget are not the same everywhere and end up taking them for granted.

On with the restaurant review already... It's a cozy place, and even somewhat romantic with it's smallish tables, and dim lighting. Make a reservation if you plan on going over the weekend. Even though we went there during the week and business was light, I can see how this place would fill up quickly. The wait staff was very attentive and accommodating. They were very willing to answer all of our questions and offer suggestions about the dished being served. The food itself was prepared to perfection and with adequately sized portions (I'm so sick of going out and having gigantic portions served that we don't end up eating). I ordered the sea scallops over escarole and cannellini beans, it was served in a balsamic reduction. The scallops were cooked exactly right, not overdone (which I find sometimes happens when I eat them in a restaurant). My sister ordered the gnocchi and she loved it. She had never had it before and usually orders ravioli or stuffed shells. She was very happy with my suggestion to try the gnocchi as it was a little bit familiar to her. My father and his companion ordered the coconut crusted salmon over orzo. A first for them as well. It was one of the restaurant's specials and the only thing I didn't care for was the sweet chutney that was on top of the salmon. Other than that, the salmon was very nicely cooked, medium rare and held all of its juices.

I will definitely be visiting this restaurant again and I hope you do too!

*k*